Wait, You Forgot Something !!

I don't know how we missed this. I mean - there's no mention of it in the Brown decision.  Everybody seems to have forgotten about it. 

A few years back, in his relentless campaign against our culture, Snortleff cooked up this cunning idea to target us further.  His battle cry was always about "the children" and the abuse he believed was rampant in our communities.  Well, he wasn't wrong about Warren Jeffs.  Warren Jeffs was having group sex with young tweens and teens. He should be killed.

Convictions of Tom Green and Rodney Holm demonstrated the State's ability to target adult polygamists, but their partners were (in some cases) minors. The "adult" bigamy statute (merely a third-degree felony) didn't give Sharkleff all the teeth he wanted.  He hit upon the idea of a "Child Bigamy" statute.  He convinced the Utah state legislature to go along with the plan.  With little resistance the bill passed, and it is now law.  Here is the language of the statute:


76-7-101.5. Child bigamy -- Penalty.
(1) An actor 18 years of age or older is guilty of child bigamy when, knowing he or she has a wife or husband, or knowing that a person under 18 years of age has a wife or husband, the actor carries out the following with the person who is under 18 years of age:
(a) purports to marry the person who is under 18 years of age; or
(b) cohabits with the person who is under 18 years of age.
(2) A violation of Subsection (1) is a second degree felony. 

I always had problems with this move.  The "adult" bigamy statute was broad and vague enough to ensnare any polygamist, but Sharkleff had to have more. 

The first problem is that the statute singles out a religious minority for disfavorable treatment.  Why? - because if a 20-year-old guy with a wife takes a 17-year-old as a second "wife", he will serve 15 years in prison, whereas if it's just a "girl-friend"(/adultery) situation, the law must look the other way.  What determines whether the guy walks free or does 15 years is his religion.  If he is a Fundamentalist Mormon, he's done for!

The second problem is that paragraph (b) would make me a second-degree felon if my family lived in Utah.  I "cohabit" with my kids who are minors. They live in my houses.  "Cohabit" is too vague and ill-defined.  You'd have to put half the state in prison.

The fourth problem is that, despite having opportunities to use the statute on some of Utah's truly bad polygamists, law enforcement never used it.

The fourth and BIGGEST problem is that Waddoups just struck down the "cohabits" language from Utah's (dumb) adult bigamy statute, so this one is therefore equally doomed.

Maybe it won't matter.  Maybe the voiding of one statute will result in the voiding of the other one(s) spawned by it.  We'll see.

76-7-101.5. Child bigamy -- Penalty.
(1) An actor 18 years of age or older is guilty of child bigamy when, knowing he or shehas a wife or husband, or knowing that a person under 18 years of age has a wife or husband, theactor carries out the following with the person who is under 18 years of age:
(a) purports to marry the person who is under 18 years of age; or
(b) cohabits with the person who is under 18 years of age.
(2) A violation of Subsection (1) is a second degree felony. - See more at: http://statutes.laws.com/utah/title-76/chapter-07/76-7-101-5#sthash.KkpWJRxE.dpuf

76-7-101.5. Child bigamy -- Penalty.
(1) An actor 18 years of age or older is guilty of child bigamy when, knowing he or shehas a wife or husband, or knowing that a person under 18 years of age has a wife or husband, theactor carries out the following with the person who is under 18 years of age:
(a) purports to marry the person who is under 18 years of age; or
(b) cohabits with the person who is under 18 years of age.
(2) A violation of Subsection (1) is a second degree felony. - See more at: http://statutes.laws.com/utah/title-76/chapter-07/76-7-101-5#sthash.KkpWJRxE.dpuf

76-7-101.5. Child bigamy -- Penalty.
(1) An actor 18 years of age or older is guilty of child bigamy when, knowing he or shehas a wife or husband, or knowing that a person under 18 years of age has a wife or husband, theactor carries out the following with the person who is under 18 years of age:
(a) purports to marry the person who is under 18 years of age; or
(b) cohabits with the person who is under 18 years of age.
(2) A violation of Subsection (1) is a second degree felony. - See more at: http://statutes.laws.com/utah/title-76/chapter-07/76-7-101-5#sthash.KkpWJRxE.dpuf

Epidemic !!!

I have been reading Utah news reports over the last few years.  Utah is famous for its polygamy.  People from other states laugh at Utah because of the rampant polygamy and the Mormons and their many wives.  Heck, word has it that there are 39,004 Mormon polygamists (or maybe "fundamentalists"), so polygamy and child abuse must be widespread.

To hear the anti-polygamy activists, something needs to be done about the proliferation of child brides.  Organizations are formed in their name.  In fact, the repute of this vast, immeasurable problem rang so loud in legislators' ears, that (at the urging of Mark Shurtleff) they felt compelled to get the situation under control.  The powerful solution came in the form of a new law - a law with some teeth. 

Frustrated at the seven month sentence given to Rodney Holm for his third marriage, polygamy-haters now had a strong weapon and deterrent - the Child Bigamy statute.

76-7-101.5. Child bigamy -- Penalty.
(1) An actor 18 years of age or older is guilty of child bigamy when, knowing he or she has a wife or husband, or knowing that a person under 18 years of age has a wife or husband, the actor carries out the following with the person who is under 18 years of age:
(a) purports to marry the person who is under 18 years of age; or
(b) cohabits with the person who is under 18 years of age.
(2) A violation of Subsection (1) is a second degree felony.
Enacted by Chapter 6, 2003 General Session

Unfazed by the gross unconstitutionality of the statute's language (what does "purport" mean? - - what does "cohabit" mean? [I co-habit in my house every day with my wives and my teen daughters]), proponents cheered the opportunity to put thousands of offender sickos behind bars.  For example, let's say you have a 19-year-old boy who is married to an 18-year-old wife.  Let's say he then has sex with a 17-year-old girl from work.  If he is not religious, this is NOT a crime at all.  However, if he can be proved to be from a Fundamentalist Mormon family, well  . . . . . .then . . . . . . he'll do 15 years in prison.  Seems fair, doesn't it?  See, it's not your actions that people hate, it's your damned religious beliefs they'll imprison you for.

So, this potent new law gave Shurtleff what he needed - finally a chance to put all those child-marrying polygs in prison.  I think it has been HUGELY successful - my gosh, since the law was enacted eight years ago, law enforcement has triumphed over this molestation epidemic and proudly convicted the following men:
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 . . . . . . . . . . . So now we can all sleep peacefully knowing that Utah is clean and pure again.

Homework assignment for Monday:  Will Kody Brown get the same sentence in Nevada for having four wives, as Tom Green will in Utah?

If the shoe fits . . . .

Yes, I know you are all going to accuse me of being an inveterate cynic. A good friend pointed out an exquisite irony to me yesterday.

Harry Reid, a Mormon U.S. Senator, is pushing for a Federal Task Force to crack down on polygamist "organizations", partly because of allegations of sexual conduct with underage girls, and allegations of church interference with local law enforcement activities. Well, read this [from the Provo Daily Herald] (then read my previous post):

A Utah County LDS seminary principal was arrested Thursday [July 9, 2009] for having an alleged sexual relationship with a student.

Police say Michael Pratt, 37, engaged in a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old girl for the last several months. Until his arrest, Pratt was principal of the Lone Peak High School LDS seminary, where the girl was a student.

Sgt. Matt Higley, with the Utah County Sheriff's Office, said the alleged sexual abuse came to light after an individual contacted the state Division of Child and Family Services, who contacted the police. Officers then interviewed the girl, who Higley said was apprehensive about talking to police, but divulged significant details about the relationship.

"The sexual relationship, we know, started sometime around the beginning of May of this year," he said.

How the relationship began is still being investigated. According to a police affidavit, Pratt took the girl to various locations around Utah County to engage in sexual acts. The couple allegedly met in a ravine and an unoccupied home near the girl's house, at a boxcar in Provo Canyon, Rock Canyon, Pleasant Grove, American Fork, Goshen and in a mine near Eureka. According to the report, Pratt was brazen in his public meeting with the girl at the warm springs near Goshen.

"Also at this location, they were skinny dipping and someone was watching him from their car," the officer stated in the report. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

---------------

Maybe it's time for Harry Reid to focus his "Federal Task Force" microscope on the venerable corporate church organization he represents in his dual, political/ecclesiastical role as High Priest Senator. After all, at least as much sexual molestation and law enforcement meddling per capita likely occurs in his church as in the Fundamentalist Mormon world.

On a related note, in February of 2003, Utah AG, Mark Shurtleff, shepherded the passage of a "child-bigamy" amendment (to Utah's existing bigamy statute). The bill (HB 307) was lauded as a powerful answer to the rampant (?) "child-bride" problem in the sinister world of polygamy. Three guesses as to how many prosecutions have ensued in the last six years . . . .

1. None

2. Zero

3. All of the above

Will the Child-Bigamy law not be applied to Michael Pratt's crime because he is not a FUNDAMENTALIST Mormon, and the law was crafted to target only FUNDAMENTALIST Mormons?