Polygamist Marshall Claims 'Persecution'
 
The Associated Press
 
PHOENIX -- A Colorado City town marshal with three wives testified Friday that a proceeding to end his career as a lawman because he practices polygamy is just a continuation of the religious persecution he has known all his life.

Sam Barlow told a hearing officer of the Arizona Law Enforcement Officer Advisory Council on the second day of a two-day hearing that he has three wives in accordance with his fundamentalist Mormon beliefs.

ALEOAC maintains that Barlow's practice of polygamy violates his oath to uphold the state constitution and undermines the public faith in a law enforcement.

Hearing officer Harold Merkow has said he plans to give his recommendation to the council by April for action in its May meeting.

Under Arizona law, a municipality must dismiss an officer who has been decertified by the council.

Barlow, 55, said his family has been persecuted for their religious practices previously, recounting a state raid in 1953 on the town of Colorado City, a Mormon enclave along the Utah-Arizona border. Authorities arrested every male over the age of 18 for the practice of polygamy, he said. Barlow was 16 at the time.

Barlow, who was a Mohave County Sheriff's deputy for 20 years before becoming the town's marshal in 1986, said he has simply followed the beliefs of his forefathers.

"It was the kind testimony you wish was videotaped because it was a different atmosphere you usually find in courtrooms or hearing rooms," said Marc Cavness, Barlow's attorney.

State Assistant Attorney General Bill Jameson, representing ALEOAC, has said Barlow's practices violate a clear prohibition of polygamy in the state constitution.

He referred all questions about the case to state Attorney General spokesman Steve Tseffos, who was unavailable Friday.

The state argued the first day of the hearing that Barlow had openly admitted as a lawman he had three wives, but Cavness disagreed.

"I don't think there has ever been a public statement by Mr. Barlow until today," Cavness said. "Every statement Sam ever made on the subject was in a privilege situation either to an employer or an investigating officer."

Cavness also entered into evidence a Feb. 6, 1991 letter by Gov. Fife Symington who as a candidate last year promised to protect Colorado City residents from religious persecution.

A call late Friday to the governor's office went unanswered.

Cavness also said that if Barlow is stripped of his badge, then AELOAC will go after other law enforcement officials and set a precedent for possible action against other state employees in the town of Colorado City.

"I suppose they may like to remove the entire government up there and run it like a colony or an occupied territory," he said.

Cavness said that he would fight an unfavorable ALEOAC decision in state and possibly federal court. Barlow has fought the licensing agency from holding the hearing since 1987, but a federal judge Thursday refused to grant a motion blocking the procedure on the grounds that it violated Barlow's constitutional right to practice religion.
 
The Associated Press
Originally published March 7, 1992
 
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