As a general rule I dont spend much time contemplating political affairs on the news. My interest in politics is minimal and I feel that most of what is said is a bunch of rhetoric, where common sense solutions or agreements are never the norm. But, with all the media attention lately on polygamist, Tom Green, my curiosity was piqued and I wondered about the timing and why Green was being prosecuted when polygamy has not been a punishable offense since the debated raid on a polygamist community at Short Creek, Arizona on July 26, 1953.
On Friday May 18, 2001, Tom Green was found guilty f four counts of bigamy and one count of failing to pay child support. I hope to convince you that polygamy is not the menace to society that David Leavitt presents it to be and why polygamy needs to be legalized. Bigamy is against the law in Utah, and if I have a provable case, I have a duty to prosecute it, Juab County Attorney David Leavitt said But should bigamy be against the law? The First Amendment to the Constitution states, Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;[].
So how is it that the government is involved in an institution sanctioned by God himself. Polygamy has been practiced for thousands of years by mankind. The Christian church accepted and practiced polygamy until the seventeen century. Charles A. Rubenstein Evelyn Humes, p. 2 reports that Mosaic law had no exception to the accepted practice of polygamy. The Old Testament patriarchs from Abraham to Solomon had plural wives and/or concubines. Opponents to polygamy claim that laws are needed to preserve and protect societys most important unit, the family.
Women are made slaves they claim and the children are brainwashed and in some cases abused. Young girls in their early teens are forced to arry men thirty or more years their elder. The Green case is a good example. Tom Green is facing child rape charges stemming from his marriage to Linda Kunz when she was only 13. Why has it taken the state 15 years to decide to seek justice in this case; the courts should have intervened when these women were in their teens.
The name David Leavitt was not well-known, now we all know that he is a prosecuting attorney in Juab County and the brother of Mike Leavitt the Governor of Utah, who themselves have a heritage of polygamy. Green has been on several national news programs such as Dateline, The Today Show and the Sally Jessy Raphael Show talking about his lifestyle, not the image that the state of Utah would like to have portrayed especially with the Olympics Games just around the corner. And, it needs to be considered that Green is an easy target.
Who is going to object, no public outcry, certainly other polygamist are not. We already have laws dealing with statutory rape, child abuse, welfare fraud and murder let the courts justifiably seek punishment on these abuses, but the institution of plural marriage as it was first introduced is not a threat to society and is protected by the First Amendment. In this age of same sex partners, partial birth abortions, the debate to legalize marijuana, and the legalizing of RU-486 a pill that terminates pregnancies up to seven Evelyn Humes, p. weeks, polygamy as a plague on society pales in comparison.
In The Daily Herald, David Leavitt estimated, a very rough preliminary estimate, that cost for the bigamy trial was $24,000. There are approximately 30,000 polygamists in the western United States. It will be a very expensive proposition if the courts start down that road. Those outside of Utah have a negative perception of polygamy that comes from the edia news of the few religious fanatics. People like Lafferty, who said that God told him to kill his sister-in-law and the Lebaron and Kingston clans who are just another Mafia in disguise.
Utah residents are no more empathic toward polygamy than those outside of the state. Seventy-four percent of the people polled in a KTVX television survey believe that polygamy is a crime. Morrill Antibigamy Act of 1862 made polygamy a criminal offense and forced the dissolution of the corporation of the Mormon church and gave the federal government the legal right to seize church property. The Edmunds-Tucker Act passed in 1887 required wives to testify against their husbands and also allowed the right of government to seize church property.
The Edmunds-Tucker Act was later repealed. It was these acts that Rudger Clawson a polygamist, made reference to in his poignant statement before Judge Charles S. Zane pronounced sentence on November 3, 1884. I regret very much that the laws of my Country come in conflict with the laws of God, but whenever they do, I shall invariably choose to obey the latter. If I did not so express myself, I should feel unworthy of the cause I represent.
The Constitution of the United States expressly provides that Congress shall make no law respecting Evelyn Humes, p. the establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, and it cannot be denied, I think, that marriage, when attended and sanctioned by religious rites, is an element in the establishment of religion. The Anti-Polygamy law of 1862 and the Edmunds-Tucker law of 1882 were expressly designed to operate against plural marriage as believed in and practiced by the Latter-day Saints. These laws are, therefore, unconstitutional, and cannot command the respect that is given to Constitutional laws. That is all I have to say, your honor.
Rudger Clawson was convicted of polygamy and unlawful cohabitation, by the state of Utah in the third district court. Judge Zane sentenced him to four years in the Utah Territorial Penitentiary and fined a total of $800. 00. Clawson has the distinction of being the first Mormon to be convicted and imprisoned for violating the law as set forth in the Edmunds Act of 1882. On October 4, 1884, Clawson had been arraigned on charges of unlawful cohabitation, two weeks later it was declared a mistrial for lack of evidence. At bout this time, Clawsons second wife Lydia, came out of hiding, on that same night she was served with a subpoena.
A retrial was held just four days later where Lydia was called to testify, when she refused, Judge Zane held her in contempt of court. She was taken to the Utah Territorial Prison, that night Clawson begged her to testify so that she would not have to spend another night in the prison. The next day, October 25, 1884, Lydia admitted that she was married to Rudger Clawson. She was the only witness, no other arguments were heard; on her testimony alone a verdict of guilty of polygamy and nlawful cohabitation was returned. During Clawsons imprisonment his first wife, Florence Dinwoodey, divorced him.
Evelyn Humes, p. 5 The heartache and deprivation that these people suffered is written in their journals and diaries. Between the years of 1884 and 1895 more 900 Mormon polygamist men were incarcerated in the Utah Penitentiary for practicing their religious beliefs. The fear of prosecution has driven most polygamists to practice in secrecy or away from judging eyes. Though the Mormon Church prohibits the practice of plural marriage oday, there is no doubt that in the mind and heart of the polygamist that what they believe and practice is a God mandated commandment.
If polygamy were legalized and brought out in the open for all to scrutinize there would be less abuses. The practice of polygamy between consenting adults should be a choice and freedom accorded to these people. The First Amendment guarantees the freedom to worship as conscience dictates, suppressing this freedom under bogus laws invalidates the First Amendment. This is America where the oppressed masses found haven from the injustices and persecution of their religious beliefs.
