Feds: Disband police, overhaul services in polygamous towns

Feds: Disband police, overhaul services in polygamous towns

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PHOENIX — The federal government Friday said the police force that serves two polygamous towns found to discriminate against nonbelievers should be disbanded.

The U.S. Department of Justice made the recommendations in closing arguments, which were due Friday. The DOJ also wants a monitor appointment to oversee the overhauling of some of the towns' operations. The towns face a Jan. 9 deadline for turning in their closing arguments.

The DOJ says the marshal's office operates as an arm of the Fundamentalist LDS Church. A jury concluded nine months ago that nonbelievers were denied police protection, building permits and water hookups by officials in Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Arizona.

The jury found the Colorado City Marshal's Office violated the rights of nonbelievers by breaking the First Amendment's promise that the government won't show preference to a particular faith and force religion upon people.

Jurors concluded officers treated nonbelievers inequitably when providing police protection, arrested them without having probable cause and made unreasonable searches of their property.

It's now up to U.S. District Judge H. Russel Holland to decide how to remedy the discrimination.

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The government says the local sheriff's office should take over policing in both towns.

"The severity and unique nature of the constitutional violations, and the (Colorado City Marshal's Office) refusal to reform make disbandment necessary," the government wrote.

Lawyers for the federal government say the sect's activities are dictated by the commands of their jailed leader and prophet, Warren Jeffs, at the expense of the rights of nonbelievers. Jeffs is serving a life sentence in a Texas prison for sexually assaulting underage girls he considered wives.

At trial, the towns denied the discrimination allegations and said the government was persecuting town officials because it disapproved of their faith. They vigorously opposed the request to disband the police department and the appointment of a monitor.

Their lawyers say police departments in other municipalities that have been targeted in federal civil rights investigations haven't faced remedies as drastic as disbandment.

The towns also have suggested they can resolve their problems through policy changes and employee training, and should be able to demonstrate their compliance through reports and documents.

The civil rights trial marked one of the boldest efforts by the government to confront what critics have long said was a corrupt regime in both towns.

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JACQUES BILLEAUD and ASTRID GALVAN

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