Wait, so that polygamist ranch raid might have been based on a false police report?

[A Black Falcon]

Eh, I don't really care for polygamy, but whether it should be illegal is another matter entirely. If it's kept on a small scale (and considering our culture and our values, I don't see it spreading outside some religious wackos, like the church of the LDS), what's the big deal?

Because they oppress the people inside their cults, of course! How should we allow groups to treat people as horribly as the FLDS does its members, particularly women? Have you heard any of the stuff they say? It's incredibly creepy...

This is an entire society which is told that girls should be married in their early teens into polygamous marriages with older men. Women should have no contact with anyone outside the cult, and men should have as little contact as possible. Education, schooling, work, equality... none of those things apply.

Obviously, forcing a minor to marry someone or engage in sexual activity that violates federal/state law is another matter entirely.

That is one of the cores of their faith. It is also going to be the centerpiece of the case against them.

I otherwise don't feel the need for government intervention into polygamy, as I believe that any engagement agreed upon between consenting adults should not be impeded by legislation that intends to inflict certain types of morality upon the population.

"Consent" really doesn't apply here, I'd say... and anyway, polygamy is inherently wrong because it is, at its core, unequal: multiple women, one man? There is no way such a relationship can be fair.

Sorry ABF but I can't share your opinion that it's "okay to lie to put away people like that". That's more or less how a LOT of very bad things have happened to innocent people. These aren't innocent people mind you, but falsely reporting crimes is not a good way to do things. You can't have people running around falsely accusing, say, actually innocent people and completley disrupting their lives just because they had a gut feeling they were up to no good.

These people should have been shut down nationwide over 50 years ago, at least... if this is what it takes to finally give one state an excuse to act (and shut them down because of their crimes, the evidence for which can only be found once the investigation has begun -- DNA testing to prove that girls were having children before it is legal, marriage "licenses", etc. I can't really condemn it... but yeah, she shouldn't get off just because a good thing happened in bringing down this group. If this is true, she did something illegal too and should be punished for it.