Quote:
Originally Posted by WillowTheWhisp
Can anyone tell me if it is legal in any US state to marry at 14? I believe at one time it was legal in Texas.
If these people lived in a state where it was legal to marry at 16 and they married at 16 (even if the husband was 96) then it wouldn't be a crime would it? Just imagine a border town in a state where marriage at 16 is legal and no-one has broken the law by having a 16 year old wife, then the state boundaries are redrawn and they end up in the next state without actually moving and suddenly they are criminals and child molestors because their wives are under the legal age in that state. This is probably how it feels to the FLDS because at one time marrying at 14 was not illegal.
Then take the subject of polygamy and compare that to a man who has a wife and a mistress (or two) which is not uncommon. The latter is breaking no law and yet to the FLDS he is worse than then because they have their one legal marriage and subsequent 'spiritual marrriages'.
|
Willow...There are several prospectives here that must be addressed.
There are over, at least at last count 200 different "groups" who practice polygamy in the States. You're free to google the term and you'll be amazed at the number of sites that'll pop up.
When one engages in polygamy...the issue isn't at what age can you legally marry someone. Most polygamists usually only have ONE wife, legally and lawfully married to them...IF they even abide by the marriage statutes in the sate they reside. (There is a huge controversy within the states as to the morality of the State issuing marriage licenses...sadly I know several LDS who've faced discipinary actions, cause they refused to get a county marriage license)
Additionally, when the State decides to prosecute a polygamist...it's rarely for polygamy due to the fact that there have been at least one Supreme Court decision calling into question the legality of anti polygamy laws. Additionally, as with most polygamist sects, wifes are usually married off in "spiritual" settings...not legal. If you only have ONE marriage license...but 12 spirit wives...are you legally a polygamist????
Now...The state is free to prosecute a polygamist under various bigamy statutes, except they usually run into a couple of problems there. First, bigamy requires deception and fraud; most of these women know straight forward what's up. If I call Sir Richard and fly over to the UK and woo...and marry you, and sometime later you discover I've got a wife and family in the States...I'm a bigamist. If on the other hand...my first wife takes a shining to you and says yes...there's no bigamy
What separates the Jeffs Cult from the pack is this: UNDERAGE BRIDES. To the best of my knowledge the Jeffs Cult is the only operating polygamist sect to allow underaged women to be maried off.
I was recently listening to a lawyer, who specializes in polygamy on NPR...he stated that most of his clients expressly forbid underage marriages, and will expel members who engage in such behavior.
Try this link to listen to the program:
Report of Abuse Prompts Raid of Polygamous Ranch : NPR
Talk of the Nation, April 10, 2008 · A 16-year-old girl associated with the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints called a family violence hotline to report sexual abuse by her 50-year-old husband. The call triggered a raid in which hundreds of women and children were removed from a polygamous compound in Eldorado, Texas.
John Mac Cormack, a reporter for the San Antonio News Express gives an update on the latest in the case, and
Ken Driggs, an Atlanta attorney, discusses the legal history of polygamy.
I have known a few polygamous families over the years. When I was in Grad School at the U, we lived on Little Cottonwood Lane...right down the street from the Alta Colony. Warren Jeffs nephew and my son played ball together in high school. BTW, when Rulon passed away, Warren ousted his brother from the cult...his nephew has a multi-million dollar judgement against his Uncle. In court papers he alleged that Warren would routinely sodomize him and other young boys. This kind of deviant behavior is well known in the Little Cottonwood, Alta area.
I've been constantly amazed at the level of sympathy Jeffs has received here on a supposedly LDS website.
As I've watched this issue unfold....Gentile routinely condemn Jeffs...while many so called Latter Day Saints defend and weep for his plight...