Religious freedom not target of efforts
 
The Arizona Republic
 
Ruth Stubbs was in love. The 16-year-old wanted to marry a single man, and hoped her religious leader would give his blessing. But Rulon Jeffs, the president and prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, had other plans. He told Ruth she was supposed to marry another man instead of her sweetheart - and that she would go to hell if she didn't.

The other man was Rodney Holm. He was 32 years old, a police officer in Hildale, Utah and Colorado City, Ariz. He was also married to Ruth's sister - and another woman as well. Despite that, the man responsible to uphold the law and ensure justice on the Utah-Arizona border took the underage girl as his third wife the next day. The marriage was performed by Warren Jeffs, the current president of the FLDS Church.

Everyone living in the border towns knew about it. But no one did anything about it. No one, that is, until the Utah Attorney General's Office and the Arizona Attorney General's Office started working together to investigate and prosecute Holm for unlawful sex with a minor and bigamy.

This prosecution and conviction of Holm and others should not be viewed as an attack on religious beliefs. The fight is against those who are committing crimes in these unique communities and getting away with it. We have acknowledged that we don't have the resources to investigate and prosecute consensual adults living in bigamous relationships. But the Holm conviction should serve notice that no one is above the law, and that we will vigorously prosecute crimes that victimize children, women and taxpayers.

When Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard and I spoke at the Polygamy Summit last month, there was a sign behind us with a quote from Edmond Burke. It read: "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."

It was 50 years ago that Utah and Arizona joined forces to do something about crimes within polygamous communities. The raids may have been a mistake. But it has been a bigger mistake to ignore the problem, assume it would go away, and believe that no one would get hurt.

We have seen compelling evidence that crimes are being committed, children are being hurt and taxpayers are footing the bill for those who are causing the pain. In 2002, 66 percent of the residents of Hildale, Utah, received federal benefits - that's 10 times higher than the rate for the entire state.

On the Arizona side, 78 percent receive food stamps, compared with 18 percent for all of Arizona. We have been told that religious leaders have ordered their followers to "bleed the beast" - take everything you can from the government but ignore all of the government's laws.

This is an issue of fairness. We do not condone men who father children with different women and fail to provide for them. We deplore deadbeat dads - and we prosecute them. Likewise, the public resents those who have many wives and children without securing the financial means to care for them. The men who are purposely placing their families in poverty must be held accountable.

It would be naive to say that these crimes are happening only in polygamous communities. They are happening in mainstream society as well. The big difference is that these crimes are prosecuted in open society, and the victims in closed societies are left unprotected.

Providing that protection has been difficult because we have been divided between federal and state, public and private, law enforcement and social services. The Polygamy Summit was an opportunity to bring the various government and social agencies together to see if we can provide a safety net to the men, women and children who live in polygamous communities. We came away with lots of ideas that might help, including:
  • Set up an abuse hotline for women and children in polygamous communities.

  • Build a Colorado City Justice of Peace Center with a sheriff's substation and facilities to interview abused children.

  • Make sure welfare, food stamps and other assistance are going to the right place.

  • Set up a non-profit foundation to help men, women and children from polygamous backgrounds.

  • Coordinate financial and other help available from different social service agencies.
Still, we realize we cannot make a real difference if we remain on the outside looking in. We have urged polygamous leaders to stop encouraging and performing marriages between older men and young girls. Some have told us this is a "gray area" and have defiantly said they would not stop.

We are now working with other people who support polygamy but deplore the practice of taking child brides. These polygamists and polygamy supporters tell us they are equally committed to stopping the crimes that are vexing their communities and giving their beliefs a black eye.

Again, we are not here to attack sincere religious beliefs. But those who are hurting children, harming women or cheating taxpayers under the guise of religion must stop. The people of Utah and Arizona are divided by state borders, but let us now unite to eliminate all barriers so that we can bring justice and the rule of law to everyone.
 
azcentral.com
Originally published September 28, 2003
 
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