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John Daley ReportingA major development today regarding the issue of polygamy. The top Democrat in the US Senate is calling for federal authorities to investigate child abuse and polygamy. The call came in a letter to the U.S. Attorney General.
That letter is from Nevada Senator Harry Reid, the Senate Minority Leader, to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. In it he says, "there is substantial federal interest in preventing the systematic child abuse involved in the modern day polygamy movement."
The struggle between law enforcement and a variety of polygamist groups has been percolating for years. The recent capture of Warren Jeffs, fugitive leader of the FLDS Church, outside Las Vegas appears to have catapulted the issue onto the national agenda, thanks to the U.S. Senate's top Democrat, Nevada's Harry Reid.
Reid, a Mormon, has sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, calling for a federal task force to investigate the interstate activity of polygamists in the Western United States and for Justice Department assistance to state prosecutors in the Jeffs case.
Sen. Harry Reid Letter: "For too long, this outrageous activity has been disguised in the mask of religious freedom. But child abuse and human servitude have nothing to do with religious freedom and must not be tolerated."
Rowenna Erickson, co-founder of the watchdog group, Tapestry Against Polygamy, sees the letter as potentially a major step to addressing allegations of child abuse, incest, domestic violence and fraud.
Rowenna Erickson, Co-Founder, Tapestry Against Polygamy: "Our organization has known for years and years that it needs to go federal because state and local isn't doing enough. And this hopefully is the beginning of what we really would like."
Utah's Attorney General, speaking on KSL-Radio's Doug Wright Show today, welcomed the news but cautioned that it's a complicated issue and any major crackdown on alleged crimes could have significant practical consequences.
Mark Shurtleff, (R) Utah Attorney General: "Where are you going to put ‘em? Who are you going to let out of prison? Who is going to pay for additional jail beds? What to you do with 10-thousand, 15, 20-thousand kids?"
We called the Justice Department and are waiting for a return call today. Likewise, we've tried, so far unsuccessfully, to speak with a group which defends the practice of polygamy.
