Historian: Officials Botched Raid On Sect

(CBS)  Authorities blew it when they raided the polygamist compound in Eldorado, Texas, removing all 416 children believed to have lived at the ranch, asserts lawyer Ken Driggs, a historian of polygamy.

Court documents said a number of teens at the compound were pregnant, and all the children were removed on the grounds that they were in danger of "emotional, physical, and-or sexual abuse." Nearly 140 women left on their own.

On The Early Show Wednesday, co-anchor Harry Smith quoted from legal documents saying there "was a widespread pattern and practice on the compound in which young minor female residents are conditioned to expect and accept sexual activity with adult men."

But Driggs said, "I assume that the language you just read is from the affidavit that the state has used to secure a search warrant. I don't know where they got their information from. They may have read it in a newspaper article somewhere or something. As I read that warrant, it sounds fairly unfounded.

"I think that a search (of the compound) is way over-broad. It's probably completely the wrong way to approach the problem with them.

"I'm not suggesting that there may not be problems in this community. There clearly has been a history of under-aged brides in the community.

"It's not necessarily a problem with some of the other fundamentalist Mormon groups, but I think that this just drives them away from the authorities. It underscores their sort of persecution complex, and their belief that the outside world is a hostile and dangerous place that they should not be engaged with."

Laurie Allen, a former polygamist who went on to make a documentary about the lifestyle called "Banking on Heaven," strongly disagreed.

She said polygamy is "all about the slavery of women and children and, you know, what the gentleman (Driggs) is talking about -- I mean, he makes the point, but what he doesn't understand is there's no way that you are going to go in there in the right way. ... His argument is flawed in that regard, because there's no way you're ever going to go in there in the right way. The only way you're going to go in there is just to go in there any old way. These people are so closed-minded, they're so controlled by their corrupt leaders that there's no way that you can go in there in the right way."

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[phydeux1]

To ''helloreally'', the term "perv" is subjective. To the FLDS you and I are pervs if we''ve had s.ex before marriage, with multiple partners, or walked around in skimpy clothing. To you, they''re pervs because they allow older men to wed and bed teenage girls. Its all subjective to your personal point of view and the values you were brought up to hold dear.

And before you go advocating turning their lives upside down, make sure yours is pristine, you may find yours being overturned next because someone doesn''t like something about how you live.

And while the vast majority of us find a middle-aged man of marrying and impregnating a 14, 15, or 16 year old girl objectionable its still a FAR CRY better than if they were true pedo.philes who prey on pre-pubescent kids. At least these girls have reached puberty.

And I somewhat agree with ''shillate'' about all these statements given by a former FLDS member with an axe to grind. Its nothing more than inflammatory remarks and unsubstantiated accusations, probably aimed at increasing her book sales. At least give an FLDS member equal time to say their peace.

[gurusavant]

mr driggs expertise rests upon the same laws that are the root of ancient apocalyptic eschatology within this type of doomsday cult. maneuvering within his profession only, excluding actual human ethics, and abiding by laws established to promote and maintain very specific social hierarchies, legally his stand point indeed has priority over the ''oh my god those poor children/women'' notion. because laws were not made for feelings.

[extremophil]

Nice article from "Ken Driggs, historian of polygamy, armchair Moron."

[shillate]

This situation is fraught with a number of conflicting issues. No doubt, if the children are being sexually abused, the state needs to intervene. That said, I am quite dismayed by the various statements that some made that state intervention should occur because of oppression of women and because of "cult like" status of the FLDS faith. As despicable as many of us might find the treatment of adult women in this religion, if it is based on religious belief, then any government, local, state, or federal, has no right to interfere. Secondly, the fact that much of this article is based on the statement of an apostate is quite concerning. Coverage of this sorry series of events need to include interviews with FLDS members. It is a sad state indeed when many justify, beyond allegations of sexual abuse, state intervention in religious belief because they disagree with those beliefs.

[helloreally]

"take a teen bride" give me a break, to state a 15 year old girl would go willingly, sure, a 15 year old girl cut off from the rest of the thinking world, she has no choice and not a chance in hell. People that agree with these polygamists are ignorant pervs too. We live in the US and get to actually think here. We know enough about how sick these people are. Turn their world upside down and sideways.

[coppertales]

I guess this raid was better than the one in Waco....chris3

[magoo2u1]

Without commenting on lifestyles or religion, I wonder at how such a broad search and "detention" is justified on a single, annonymous phone call. The call could be made by a law enforcement officer or DA to get into a place they would like to enter on a fishing expedition. I could cause you great greif by placing such a call against you and you can''t get your money back on the damage they inflict to your property, if they kill or injure a family member you have no recourse. I think they need more than an annonymous call to get a warrant.

[phydeux1]

I don''t know where I stand on this issue other than to say no one should be beaten or physically forced to have ***. But if they choose to live by a different way of life, no matter how bizarre I find it to be, who am I to deny them that?

Girls were getting married as early as 12 centuries ago and considered old maids by 16. And puberty is Nature''s own way of signaling when a person is physically ready for ***. Its simply our modern SOCIETY that finds all this horribly objectionable. But they''re their own society that has chosen to exist outside of ours. In the land of the free who am I to impose my society''s moral judgements on them?

If a 50-year old man in their society wants to take a teen bride, and she goes willingly, I can''t argue with it. I may find it objectionable or repulsive, but I also find a lot of the piercings and tattoos people walk around with equally repulsive. And to be fair, there''s probably a LOT of guys out there who secretly wish they could take a 15 year old girl as a bride without society looking at them as perverts. And as horrible as that thought seems to most of us, just think how casually you wear a bikini/Speedos to a beach while a Hassidic Jew covers his children''s eyes and mutters about how uncouth you are. Its a matter of cultural perspective. The Hassidic don''t try to stop us wearing bikinis and Speedos, so should we do the same to these groups because we find them distasteful?

[tuckerspike]

The removal of the women and children from this compound of the fundamentalist church of Jesus Christ of latter day saints in Texas is a courageous move, I applaud the police for taking the steps they did to save these innocent people. People like Ken Driggs simplify the disgusting crimes against children by calling the young girls underage brides instead of multiple rape victims. The men rounded up there should be shot, (which is too good for them) a crime against a child is the worst crime against the most innocent in our society and should be punished quickly and severely. Let the police do their job, punish those men now, not in court.

[elvass]

The concern that one generates on this issue is that no one overeacts ( ie: Waco and the Branch Davidians ). It is unfortunate that, in this country, if you do not look, act or march pretty close to everyone else then you must be demonized in some fashion. Driggs is a bonafide expert on these people. Good job in landing his take on the matter.