Comments about ‘FLDS teen refuses to say where baby is’

Way to go Texas. That's one down and a couple hundred thousand to go in your joke of a state. And it only cost you how many millions to get that? It's not hard to believe Dubya is from Texas!

Wouldn't if be great to see this child's family tree going back to 1890 via DNA testing. That would be an amazing tree.

The poor poor polygamists, why aren't the gays and lesbians joining forces with them to get their civil rights restored. Maybe if they got some picket signs and stormed the capital that would get more of a response from the law makers.

Polygamists did not chose to be polygamists they were born that way, I just don't understand why there is all the hate.

I don't understand how the men can be charged with bigamy when the state does not recognize polygamy. Why isn't it just counted as having a mistress(which doesn't seem to be frowned on in this world.)
And surely it is better to have the polygamists' families working together and at least trying to get along, than to have the serial monogamy that happens in society with all the trauma of divorce,custody, visitation, and lawyers taking all the money?

"I don't understand how the men can be charged with bigamy when the state does not recognize polygamy."

Joanna - Texas apparently counts even "purporting" to marry, so you could be charged with bigamy even if you just held a pretend wedding, or claimed you were married, even where that marriage was not recognized by the state. But it is especially odd to me that they would count the marriage for purposes of bigamy, but NOT count it for purposes of sexual abuse (i.e. statutory rape).

I agree that seems strange that Texas would consider a 16-year-old having a child in the context of a (purported) marriage worse than a 16-year-old who simply gets knocked up by her 22-year-old boyfriend. Traditionally, the remedy in such a case was just that -- a shotgun wedding and marriage!

This is one of the reasons age of marriage laws are often lower than age of sexual consent laws. It's not sex at a certain age that's inherently bad, it's sex outside the context of marriage, which leads to single motherhood, which may lead to increased use of public assistance, etc. How many FLDS get pregnant outside of their marriages?

I'm wondering....can the state force any young mother and child to have DNA tests in order to track down their fathers without their permission? Incest...OK. Rape...OK Polyandry...? Unwed mother on welfare...? Retarded child...? Mixed race...? Proof of artificial insemination...? This opens a new avenue of state intrusion into previously protected privacy. Why not start tattooing ID numbers onto peoples arms and making sure they can't work or travel without "papers". Oh wait! We're already doing that last one.

There's so little to laugh about in this case, but it was great reading your closing remark!

"Polygamists did not chose to be polygamists they were born that way, I just don't understand why there is all the hate."

Thanks for the smile!

we good folks just want dem plyg varmints out of our state. We have enought problems with the illegals as it is. I say we deport them all back to Utah!

No, the issue IS "sex at a certain age!" That is inherently bad! In order to protect our children, it is illegal to take advantage of a youth, who is not able to consent to such a thing. Lack of consent from the youth is not necessary for conviction of the perpetrator. Most of these people end up on national databases as sex offenders. The more years between the perpetrator and the victim, the more serious the offense. Anyone who is in a position of responsibility should never take advantage of a minor.
The state of Texas is in general not a fan of any religion besides the Baptist Church. They have their faults too. Lubbock TX has the honor of having the highest rate of STDs, teenage pregnancy, and HIV transmission among teenagers. Due to the policy of absolutely not discussing any form of birth control for fear of encouraging youth to engage in sexual activity, they are setting themselves up for a catastrophe. Why not discuss the facts of keeping our youth healthy, than risking disease and unwanted pregnancy?

re: Joanna

Bigamy and polygamy are both illegal in Texas.

Texas has done what Utah failed to do. Utah was not admitted to the United States of America until it renounced polygamy. Utah had no intention of prosecuting any polygamist. The federal government had to remind Utah about the illegality of polygamy in the 1950s. The federal government did not handle the situation well, but Utah should have upheld the law from the beginning. All too many prominent Utah families were polygamist and state officials did not want to procedure their own kin. Today the state of Utah is reluctant to enforce the law in as far as polygamy is concerned. Texas saw the polygamist for what they are--law breakers who impregnate young girls. Polygamists say they practice "spiritual marriages". Somehow the spiritual aspect is set aside because human babies are born. We, here in Utah, have lied to our selves so often that we believed our own lies. Texas saw the situation for what it was; old men impregnating young vulnerable girls who are coerce and bullied into believing that their soul is in danger if they do not do everything and anything their leaders say.

The more I read about FLDS, and their abuses of females, the angry I get. I am so tired of hearing and reading about these perverted old men, that I could literally scream my head off!!! The authorities need to lock every single one of those child rapist up and throw away the key....AND NO EXCUSES! I do not care if they were raised to be rapists or not. God gave them a brain to know right from wrong...DUH!

I'm just glad we'ere runnin' them out of Texas. I've read all the stories about them too-they are all true cuz because there are so many books about them and stuff. They are rapin', thievin, adulterous rascals. Texas is a friendly state full of good folks, plygs are not welcome here and we didn't invite them anyway. Texas is a good Christian state.

There was no force or agression in any of these relationships. If this girl does not consider herself to be victim, evrybody ahould listen.

I cannot say how badly I dislike polygamists men! They are devils from hell.

It is called Contempt Of Court and it comes with Jail time. Good Job Texas. Enforce The Law.

Texas is No Joke because this situation is No Joke. This is about Forced Marriage, Rape and Child Molestation.

If she doe not talk, hold her in Contempt and put her in Jail.

Or present evidence (the fact that she will not talk) against the perp, and because she will not talk assume that in fact she was to young at the time of the conception, even if by one hour.

People seem to only want to see Laws Enforced that they like, and that is wrong.

Cost only seems to become and Issue when its not your little princess that is a Victim.

"Utah had no intention of prosecuting any polygamist . . . too many prominent Utah families."

That's bull, and, of course, you know it. You may find it hard to admit, since it refutes your hypothesis, but Juab County, whose prosecutor was the brother of the sitting Governor, recently prosecuted a polygamist for, among other things, raping one of his underage wives. He's still sitting in jail.

The real problem is the extraordinary commitment of time and money these prosecutions require, pulling needed resources from other important actions.

As is in this story, the FLDS and other lawless bands have incorporated fraud, lying, deceipt, and covering the tracks of their monstrous acts into their religion, and have raised them to both a sacrament and an art form.

As Texas is finding out, it is designed to make these prosecutions prohibitively expensive. What UT, AZ, CO, and other states have had to do is spend scarce resources where they will do the most good.

Targeting the worst, most cynical and visible offenders -- like those recently indicted -- is one of the best ways of stretching the prosecution buck.

Kudos to TX! Keep up the good work.

I wouldn't want to hand my baby to the government so they could experiment on them either.

Polygamy and gay marriage are both restricted by the government, they just don't often enough prosecute.

Utah has had a few convictions. I never liked Tom Green's selling of magazines in rural Utah as a way he supported his HUGE families. If he had been supporting them right he might not have been carted off to jail.

Warren Jeffs is just plain wrong.

POLYGAMY CURE AND REMEDY:

IN PRACTICAL WORDS, IT IS THE TOWN OR CITY DUTY/RESPONSBILITY TO SHOW:

( ) CITY REGISTRY PROGRAM FOR: PRENUPTIAL/PREMARITAL CONTRACT-LIKE, OR

( ) CITY REGISTRY PROGRAM FOR: DOMESTIC PARTNERSHIP CONTRACT-LIKE,

( ) CITY REGISTRY PROGRAM FOR: COMMITTED RELATIONSHIP CONTRACT-LIKE WITH ALL THE INCIDENTS OF MARRIAGE & CHILDREN, NOT MARRIAGE. (AS A NECESSITY: (A) IN THE EYES OF THE LAW OR (B) IN THE EYES OF THE COURT(S)


WRITER'S NOTICE AS PREVIOULY STATED TODAY AND IN PREVIOUS DAYS.

Polygamy was started in the U.S.A.by JOSEPH SMITH JR.All of this lays on his doorstep.Believe it or not,like it or not "the truth shall set you free".

Okay the girl starts having sex at the age of 14 and because she is a part of a polygamist group they - CPS - is demanding that the baby's DNA be checked to find out of the mom was underaged when she was supposedly married off to some guy who is old enough to be an adult.

Okay Texas - if you are going to badger this young lady because she has a kid how about doing it to ALL young ladies who have children while under the age of 17 and start locking up the fathers of those children also. After all if the girl is underaged and the father isn't that is rape too. That's right they have sex because if the girl truly loves her boyfriend she will sleep with him and to heck with the consaquences(sp)

You can't have one set of laws for one group of people and not include everyone else.