Plural wives plead case
By: Administrative Account | Source: Deseret Morning News
October 6, 2003 10:17AM EST

Make polygamy legal in Utah, Shurtleff is told

By Nancy Perkins
Deseret Morning News

      COLORADO CITY, Ariz. — Utah needs to change its "stupid, old-fashioned law" against polygamy, several hundred polygamists from Arizona told Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff.
      "I just said I'd love for them to come to Utah and help me do it, and they asked if I wanted them to be like Rosa Parks," Shurtleff said Friday after attending an invitation-only, two-day session with polygamists from Centennial Park, a plural community on the outskirts of Colorado City and Hildale, Utah.
      "We talked about making it (polygamy) a misdemeanor. But first they have to try to end the practice of child-bride marriages and they have to educate people and let them know what's going on in their community," he said.
      Centennial Park women who attended Shurtleff's Aug. 22 polygamy summit in St. George initiated the meeting with Shurtleff and Terry Goddard, Arizona's attorney general.
      The program, which featured a Power Point presentation on why the community members believe polygamy is a constitutional right, was a great success, said Shurtleff. "I was amazed. It was very educational," he said. "I learned to try not to paint every polygamist with the same brush. They made it clear they practice the same religion as those living in Hildale and Colorado City, but they're worlds apart in many other ways."
      Linda Chatwin and Mary Batchelor, both supporters of plural marriage, attended the gathering. None of the polygamists attending the session wanted to speak with the media.
      "It was a private meeting, but I think it was a positive one," Chatwin said.
      Among those attending were child protection agency representatives, attorneys from Utah and Arizona, and former Utah Rep. David L. Zolman, a Salt Lake Republican.
      Zolman raised eyebrows in 1999 when he said the state should apologize for the polygamist raids of the 1940s and 1950s. At the time, Zolman also said it was his long-term goal to remove laws banning polygamy from the books because polygamists continue to practice their beliefs despite the law.
      Shurtleff is hopeful the Centennial Park women will take their message to others.
      "They need to come out and do the road show thing in St. George. People need to hear from women like them," said Shurtleff. "I keep hearing all the rumors about all the polygamous groups in the state, but those guys need to send their message that they condemn marrying minors, child abuse and fraud. I've been quietly urging them to speak up."
      Colorado City Mayor Dan Barlow said while he attended an opening luncheon at the Mark Twain hotel and enjoyed hosting his old friend Goddard around town, he did not attend any of the sessions.
      "I invited Mark to come to our community, but they didn't particularly want me to attend their meeting," said Barlow.
      "I don't have a conflict with that. They wanted to have their say without any of those other people there," said Barlow, referring specifically to the media and anti-polygamy groups such as Tapestry Against Polygamy and the St. George-based organization Help the Child Brides. "Any kind of dialogue is good. I don't see any harm by it."
      In nearby Kane Beds, Ariz., resident Ben Bistline said his daughter and son-in-law were invited to the meeting with Shurtleff.
      "It was put together by the Centennial Park women, and they only invited who they wanted to come," said Bistline. "The prophet of their church, Joseph Timpson, got up in church one Sunday and told them this (Shurtleff's attention to polygamy) was their problem and they needed to take care of it. I know some men went, but none of them talked."
      Members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints consider Centennial Park residents apostates. The FLDS church, headed by 47-year-old Warren Jeffs, is headquartered in Colorado City, and most of its 10,000 members live in the twin border towns of Hildale, Colorado City and the plural community of Bountiful, British Columbia.
      Centennial Park residents broke off from the FLDS church and started their own church called "The Work of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints."
      The split has polarized the plural communities, which often are referred to as the First Ward and Second Ward, and rumors persist that Jeffs is losing authority over his people. Jeffs recently told his congregation that church services, including plural marriages, were being suspended because of their sins.
      Shurtleff in the past has challenged Jeffs to meet one-on-one with him under the promise Jeffs would not be arrested. So far, Jeffs hasn't taken Shurtleff up on his offer.
      "I think we made some strides with this group," said Shurtleff. "I told them we're not going to investigate everybody, but we are going to listen to victims who come forward and who are credible. We also need their help up the street."

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