I don't understand why they can't be charged with human trafficking, but I suppose that the children are not technically forced to do these things and the parents I'm sure give their consent.
It is difficult for me to understand the whole "our hands are tied" thing. Here in AZ there are things that could've and should've been investigated but it doesn't happen because their hands are tied. Politicians have a history of being intimidated and looking the other way. So when I hear that LE's hands are tied what it really means is they are looking the other way.
As far as the inbreeding is concerned, my mom worked for a pediatrician ('00 to '05 that specialized in difficult pregnancies. Many of the mothers were giving birth to babies with severe birth defects over and over because of course they don't believe in birth control. Of course all of the medical care was free since as "single" mothers they were given the state funded insurance. Those benefits have been cut back, and I was hopeful that we wouldn't be footing the bill for these people. Unfortunatly single mothers will still receive both the insurance and food stamp benefits.
BBM
Some good thoughts, daisy.faithfull -
On the first
BBM sentence in your post, Carolyn Jessop, on the night before she was to be "married," was initially told by her parents that she would be getting married to Jessop the next day. As she explained in her book,
Escape, on that night, she had to sleep in her mother's bed with her mother. She wrote that this sleeping arrangement was a regular custom for FLDS brides-to-be. She further said it was mainly because the parents and the "groom" did not want the "bride" to run away after receiving the news. (Can you imagine?) So indeed, she was quietly and privately "married" the next day. She was 18 y/o, so this could not be prosecuted as trafficking. But I think you raise a good point because not every "bride" is of legal age. And with marriages of girls not of legal age, if the "groom" is already married, it is indeed trafficking. Period. IMO....
Re the other two
BBM sentences: We have heard & heard & heard in news accounts and other reliable sources about these poor FLDS "wives" who follow the 1st (and ONLY) legal wife -- how they live in a state of poverty or near-poverty, and are given medical services and food stamps (and probably WIC as well) free of charge, as you said, because the "wives" have no jobs and no source of income. I hope that these poor "wives" are the exception and not the rule, but I have no idea and I'm skeptical.)
First of all, this is a travesty against the women & probably many children, that they should have to live that way -- and using the gov't and LEO's to go after these deadbeat dads would never do for many reasons... And of course it's unfair to all the rest of "us" who pay our taxes year after year. (I am a flaming liberal, but there it is.) No wonder the illegal wives compete like sprinters to gain favor with the husband. Carolyn Jessop said that although she hated having sex with that man, she did so to gain favor. Little wonder -- that's all the currency she had.
Anyway, I've had my rant. What CAN be done if, as you say -- and I'm certainly not disagreeing with anything you posted -- their "hands are tied"? Grrrrrrr. :banghead: ..... :maddening:...... :waitasec: .... :curses:
End of rant. :rant: