Enforce or repeal law
 
Opinion
The Spectrum
 
Utah lawmakers recently chided Attorney General Mark Shurtleff for not taking a stronger prosecutorial stance on the issue of polygamy.

The comments came during a hearing on legislation that would allow "The Lost Boys" (a group of more than 400 teen males who have been banished from polygamous communities) to seek emancipation from their parents. Lawmakers, including Rep. Brad Last of St. George, questioned why Shurtleff did not support a proposal to allow the state to prosecute the parents of The Lost Boys.

Shurtleff responded that most of the boys would not want to see their parents prosecuted, and would instead rather become emancipated to move on with their lives. The AG acknowledged his office could do more on the issue, but also pointed out, "In the meantime we have a lot of kids who need help."

We agree with Shurtleff's reasoning, but feel it is important to point out all that has been done recently to help other victims of polygamy.

In the past, we have taken Shurtleff to task for comments he made on a daytime talk show where he stated, in effect, that he did not have the resources to effectively prosecute polygamy.

While we do not want to give Shurtleff any excuses in this area, we also feel it is important to acknowledge the work his office, and other government agencies from both Utah and Arizona, have done to prosecute problems that arise in polygamous communities. A number of significant events have occurred in what has been a very momentous time for the towns of Hildale and Colorado City.

Several men have been arrested for having sex with minors. Arizona has taken over the Colorado City school system to address its financial problems. Utah has put the United Effort Plan (which controls most of the land and buildings in the border towns) into receivership to iron out the many conflicting claims facing that entity. Utah is considering legislation to allow The Lost Boys to become emancipated minors. And perhaps most importantly, FLDS leader Warren Jeffs is a wanted fugitive.

These actions do not in and of themselves constitute prosecution of polygamy. However, they do help address the grievances of those who have been victims in these closed societies. Strides have been made, but there remains a serious problem that hurts taxpayers and, in some cases, children.

The legislature needs to support the enforcement of state law (in this case, the state constitution) or recognize it's ineffectiveness and have the AG start a movement to repeal it.

Until that day comes, we applaud Shurtleff and other Utah and Arizona governmental employees who are cleaning up the problems that surround the practice of polygamy.
 
TheSpectrum.com
Originally published February 14, 2006
 
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