137 children rescued from Polygamist ranch. Guess the State? No, not Utah

[Berzerker]

Given they have evidence of one forced marriage below the legal age, it's quite reasonable to believe more may have occurred. I have no problem with a fishing expedition on something like this - with a closed compound it's very hard to enforce laws and very easy for significant abuses to occur, and it sounds like they are occurring.

What legal age? All 3 states (Tex, Ut, AZ) allow 16 year olds to marry with parental consent. Our Bill of Rights was designed to prevent fishing expeditions...

[Berzerker]

...or as the article says:

What "critics" say aint enough for a court ordered warrant, this is a specific allegation against one man.

Is the State required to provide you personally with evidence in an ongoing criminal investigation that doesn't involve you?

So you dont have a credible report either? Why did you say it existed? No, the cops dont need to show me a credible report but it had better exist and somebody in the chain of due process needs to make sure this aint a fishing expedition.

[Jon Miller]

If they are going to do questionable things like polygamy, they should stay well away from other questionable practices like marrying their buddies kids at a very young age.

The combination of polygamy and marrying disenfranchised kids is the reason why polygamy is so strongly disliked in America in the first place.

JM

[DinoDoc]

Originally posted by Berzerker
So you dont have a credible report either? Why did you say it existed?

RTFA. The information is in there. Once the state has been called in, they are bound by law to investigate. They aren't going to leave kids in an envoronment where they suspect abuse without investigating.

[SlowwHand]

You know what's the funniest? Had the state of Texas said, "Nah. It's all good". I can hear these same dumb bastards rotating their mouth.

[Berzerker]

All I see is an accusation that a 50 year old man married a 16 year old girl and they may have conceived a child (which aint even illegal). Based on that the cops went in placed a couple hundred people in custody? This is a fishing expedition, they want their social workers asking the kids questions to build cases against adults and shut down the community.

[DinoDoc]

Originally posted by Berzerker
All I see is an accusation that a 50 year old man married a 16 year old girl and they may have conceived a child (which aint even illegal).

1) RTMFA. Law enforcement agencies raided the ranch Thursday night after receiving a report Monday that a 16-year-old girl had been "sexually and physically abused," Azar said.

2) It may actually have been illegal to marry a 16 year old in Texas especially since I don't think they applied for a court order. Texas: The age is 18 without from a parent or your legal guardian. If under the age of 16, the law requires that the couple receives a court order before being allowed to marry.

http://www.coolnurse.com/marriage_laws.htm

[Berzerker]

RTFA. The information is in there. Once the state has been called in, they are bound by law to investigate. They aren't going to leave kids in an envoronment where they suspect abuse without investigating.

The accused is one man who wasn't there, and the warrant is based on his alleged marriage to a 16 year old (which is legal) and their conception of a child (which is legal). Did they find her and did she eagerly accept their protection? The information is not there so you dont know if the report is credible. They rounded up 200 people for this? No, its a fishing expedition.

[SlowwHand]

Originally posted by Berzerker
All I see is an accusation that a 50 year old man married a 16 year old girl and they may have conceived a child (which aint even illegal). Based on that the cops went in placed a couple hundred people in custody? This is a fishing expedition, they want their social workers asking the kids questions to build cases against adults and shut down the community.

Why did they leave Utah, continuing to move, until they settled in one of the most remote areas of Texas, rarely going to the nearest tiny town? Persecution complex? I wonder why?

[DinoDoc]

Originally posted by Berzerker
The accused is one man who wasn't there, and the warrant is based on his alleged marriage to a 16 year old (which is legal)

Do you happen to have a copy of the court order allowing the marriage handy?

[Berzerker]

1) RTMFA. Law enforcement agencies raided the ranch Thursday night after receiving a report Monday that a 16-year-old girl had been "sexually and physically abused," Azar said.

Yes I know, the question is how they got the report and how they define sexual and physical abuse? All I see in the article is she was married and had a kid. Rounding up 200 people based on the allegation that this guy did something illegal - which aint even supported in the article - is ridiculous. This is a fishing expedition - if they got a warrant for the guy, serve it and leave. If she's there and wants to file charges against the guy for something, fine...

2) It may actually have been illegal to marry a 16 year old in Texas especially since I don't think they applied for a court order. Texas: The age is 18 without from a parent or your legal guardian. If under the age of 16, the law requires that the couple receives a court order before being allowed to marry.

Which means 16-17 year olds need parental consent, not a court order.

[Aeson]

The 16yo in question was the one who called authorities and claimed she was being abused.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080408/ap_on_re_us/polygamist_retreat

The dayslong raid on the sprawling compound built by now-jailed polygamist leader Warren Jeffs was sparked by a 16-year-old girl's call to authorities that she was being abused and that girls as young as 14 and 15 were being forced into marriages with much older men.

[SlowwHand]

Originally posted by Aeson
The 16yo in question was the one who called authorities and claimed she was being abused.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080408/ap_on_re_us/polygamist_retreat

Kind of ends the debate, doesn't it?

[Berzerker]

Why did they leave Utah, continuing to move, until they settled in one of the most remote areas of Texas, rarely going to the nearest tiny town? Persecution complex? I wonder why?

Maybe because they're violating the law - living out in the boonies aint probable cause.

Do you happen to have a copy of the court order allowing the marriage handy?

16 years olds dont need a court order

[Berzerker]

Kind of ends the debate, doesn't it?

No, that doesn't justify placing 200 hundred people in custody