Polygamists get Town Hall hearing

St. GEORGE — Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard told several hundred people attending a Town Hall meeting on polygamy in St. George Thursday that the 1953 raid on Short Creek was a "shameful mistake."

"I have to admit that," said Goddard as he addressed the crowded meeting in the Holiday Inn. "We're all privileged to be here tonight. It's an historic event. I hope we can break down decades of suspicion and hostility that created some very, very serious problems. Let's let the past be in the past."

The government raid on Short Creek, Ariz., what is now known as Hildale, Washington County, and Colorado City, Ariz., was a public relations disaster for Arizona. Fathers were jailed, women refused to testify against their husbands, and children were placed in foster care. Arizona eventually reunited the families, and critics say the event helped foster a hands-off attitude toward polygamy that exists today.

Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff, who hosted the town hall meeting with Goddard and other state officials, said feelings run high where polygamy is concerned.

"We know that people feel really strongly when they talk about this," he said. "I'm not here to preach tonight, I'm here to serve. Some people don't believe that. Some people suggest we have our own Middle East conflict here."

Shurtleff and Goddard responded to numerous questions, which were first written down and handed in by members of the audience.

"I've been criticized for talking to polygamists," Shurtleff said. "I won't apologize for that. Utah will not target any group or people because of their religious beliefs."

Shurtleff also would not apologize for supporting the removal of Judge Walter Steed, a polygamous circuit court judge in Hildale, or for more jail time for Rodney Holm, a former Colorado City police officer convicted of sex with a minor and bigamy.

John Llewellyn, who said he was at the meeting on behalf of Tapestry Against Polygamy, asked the attorneys general if they would meet with victims of polygamy in the same manner they were meeting with advocates of polygamy.

He also alleged that Tapestry submitted two cases of bigamy to the Utah office and there was no interest in the matter because no underage girls were involved.