LONG BEACH, Calif. (April 20, 2008)-- On April 7, 2008 in El Dorado, Texas, the police did a raid on a religious compound that was founded by Warren Jeffs, a polygamist that is accused of marrying children at the age of 15-years-old.
During the raid police evacuated 401 children that were all from Jeffs. There was reports of abuse from some of Jeffs young wives. Children at the age of 15-years-old are having babies. By law even with parents permission no adult can marry anyone younger than 16-years-old. Last fall Jeffs was convicted in Utah for a rape charge for a 2001 marriage between a 19-year-old to a 14-year-old who rejected the commencement.
Utah authorities say that Texas has a big case on their hands and that polygamy is not that easy to deal with. Yes it is illegal to be married to more than one person, but when religion is involved it becomes a harder issue to deal with.
My Thoughts
Compounds like this have been going on for centuries and every now and then someone gets caught. Why is there not strict rules on this type of behavior. A lot of these women are being abused from the moment they step into this world because of these compounds. When someone gets married to more than one person why doesn't the state already know about this and then they can catch their predators in a timely manner.
Is there even legal ceremonies taking place. How is it that it took so many years for Warren Jeffs to be put under investigation and detained until the day of his trial. He had been charges before with other sexual crimes but yet he continues to hurt young women and brain wash them.
2 comments:
Wow, I think that it is ridiculous that polygamy is still going on in the U.S.. Do you think that our country's laws on this issue really stop polygamy?
It is hard to say because of the fist amendment religious clauses. And also the due process right to privacy. According to Marci A. Hamilton a find law columnist special to CNN.com said The anti-polygamy laws were and are facially neutral: They apply equally to secular and religious polygamists. That facial neutrality makes it clear that Congress was not focused solely on eradicating religious polygamists in the West, but also intent on preserving the long tradition of marriage between one man and one woman.
I do agree with Hamilton on the issue of underage girls being married to much older men and this is statutory rape. The Mann Act is not being enfordced and we need to protect our children.
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