Posted on 01/20/2006 6:05:49 AM PST by Utah Binger
AG is pressed on polygamy
Hearing on 'lost boys' bill becomes a critique of state's effort to stop abuse
By Kirsten Stewart The Salt Lake Tribune
A legislative hearing Thursday on providing some legal relief to throwaway youths turned into an inquiry into state efforts to crack down on abuse in polygamous communities.
Attorney General Mark Shurtleff testified before the Senate Human Services Committee in favor of HB30, which would allow homeless, runaway and forsaken teens to seek legal emancipation from their parents. Shurtleff said the bill would assist in efforts to help the so-called "lost boys" - youths shunned by their elders in polygamous communities straddling the Utah-Arizona border.
Committee members unanimously endorsed HB30, but not before lawmakers pressed the state's top prosecutor for a progress report on enforcement of crimes within polygamous communities. Lawmakers asked Shurtleff if there is more the state could do to penalize polygamists who abandon their children. A Salt Lake City attorney recently prepared a mock-up of a bill that would do just that, said House committee leader Rep. Bradley G. Last. The St. George Republican suggested such a tool might be used by law enforcement to infiltrate notoriously insular polygamous sects. Shurtleff said his attorneys are still reviewing the proposal. But he said most of the "lost boys" he has interviewed shy from prosecution. "They feel their parents are victims as well," said Shurtleff. He acknowledged "we can do more" to crackdown on abuse, but said "in the meantime we have a lot of kids who need help." "This isn't just one or two boys. We have identified well over 400 by name," testified Shurtleff. Shurtleff said most wind up homeless, though they have the skills and desire to work and survive on their own.
(Excerpt) Read more at sltrib.com ...
Blacks were brought into America by slaveowners with the government permission. Fopllowing your logic with regards to the Mormon church, maybe the government should take care of all blacks.
It's peripheral to the polygamy issue, but the inability of young men to work legally is a problem in lots of other contexts, too.
Can't the parents be thrown in jail for child endangerment/abuse/abandonment/whatever? That might help cut back on the amount of polygamy going on.
Hmmmmmmmm. That's what Jesse thinks.
Not the same.
The United States government did not introduce slavery into North America nor into the United States. The most that can be claimed is the U.S. government permitted slave importation until 1808. See U.S. Constitution, Article I, Section 9.
Are these polygamous communities Mormon? Do the LDS have some continuing historical connection with them?
Don't know whether or not Utah Binger's suggestion has merit or not, but I think it certainly has some logical merit.
They would have to build new jails.
When polygamy was outlawed in 1890, hundreds of true believers simply went underground or fled to Mexico. The Colorado City group is an off-shoot of the church using all the same dogma instituted by Joseph Smith and Brigham Young regarding polygamy, however are not directly affiliated or recognized by the LDS church.
Not sure I'm reading this right - it sounds as though the lawmakers are accusing the AG of not enforcing existing laws against polygamy itself?
Actually, the "government" that permitted slaves to be imported into the American colonies was the British government. The subject of banning the importation of slaves was a controversial issue during the adoption of the US Constitution and the result was a compromise of banning it after 20 years (in the year 1807 I believe) rather than immediately. Establishing and fostering this system of slavery was a bitter complaint of the founders against England which was expressed in the Declaration of Independence.
What? So you think it is okay to subject children to the situation in this article? You're messed up.
Nobody cares WTF you do in your bedroom, especially me.
No. Anyone practicing, endorsing or preaching that one should practice or endorse polygamy is excommunicated from the church. The practice is no longer sanctioned by God at this time (see Jacob 2:30 for the scriptural basis for sanctioning or prohibiting polygamy within the church).
Thats the next societal norm they will try to break down, and its already starting.
No, i'm just pointing out the hypocracy that it's legal to commit adultury, but not to have two wives, that a guy on welfare can sleep with every girl in the projects and get 100 of them pregnant and that's 100% legal, but if one rich man finds 2 women willing to marry him... that's against the law.
However, The LDS in all their modern offical majesty, are being more than a bit disingenuous. Those polygamous folks are living all over the state and are following an earlier official LDS doctrine. Some part of the abandoned boy problem is theirs.
It's embarassing, but I'm sure it's being addressed unofficially. Just not effectively.
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