Oddly twisted headline: Feds sue Arizona/Utah town for discriminating against the non-polygamous?

by TrogloPundit | June 23, 2012 4:01 pm

Here’s the actual headline[1]:

Polygamous towns face federal lawsuit for religious discrimination

Officials of polygamous sect near Utah-Arizona border discriminate against nonmembers by putting their leader Jeffs above law, suit claims.

Shouldn’t any legal action against a “polygamous sect” somehow involve…polygamy? It is still illegal, isn’t it?

And if Justice isn’t going after them for polygamy, then…are they actually polygamous? If so, then why isn’t polygamy involved in the lawsuit? And if not, why are they being described that way?

Not that the allegations aren’t serious:

The U.S. Justice Department filed a lawsuit against two towns dominated by a polygamous sect on Thursday, accusing officials of failing to protect nonmembers and enforcing the edicts of leader Warren Jeffs above the law.

The complaint filed in Arizona’s U.S. District Court accuses the twin towns of Colorado City, Ariz., and Hildale, Utah, of “operating as an arm of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints,” for at least 20 years. It marks a departure for the federal government, which has until now steered clear of filing cases against FLDS members.

There are nearly two dozen allegations in the lawsuit, many involving the police agency the towns share. The earliest incident dates back to 2000, when attorneys say Colorado City town marshals confronted a sect member in an attempt to return an underage bride to her husband’s home after she fled.

Read the whole story for more examples. If true, they constitute serious violations of civil rights. That’s how I read it, anyway.

But look…not to be a conspiracy theorist or anything, but if the “earliest incident dates back to 2000,” why would this all be happening now?

Posted by The TrogloPundit.[2] Hat tip Wombat[3].

Endnotes:
  1. Here’s the actual headline: http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/54351763-78/town-flds-attorney-federal.html.csp?page=1
  2. The TrogloPundit.: http://troglopundit.wordpress.com
  3. Wombat: http://theothermccain.com/2012/06/22/live-at-fivesix-06-22-12/

Source URL: https://rightwingnews.com/uncategorized/oddly-twisted-headline-feds-sue-arizonautah-town-for-discriminating-against-the-non-polygamous/