Polygamous towns accused of discriminating against non-sect members

The federal government has taken two towns in the American West to court

Members of the sect are forced to follow strict rules, most notably polygamy (AP)

The US government has gone to court against two polygamous communities in the American West that have been accused of discriminating against people who are not members of the religious sect.

The federal government claims that Colorado City, Arizona, and Hildale, Utah, are run according to the dictates of Warren Jeffs, the jailed leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (FLDS). It says that the towns have “engaged in a pattern or practice of illegal discrimination against individuals who are not members of the religion”.

On Wednesday, the case against the two towns began at a town in Phoenix, where lawyers for the government claimed the religious order’s discrimination extended to housing, water services and police protection.

Hildale in Utah is one of two towns that have been taken to court by the US federal government (AP)

They said the towns were “corrupt communities where people are spied on” and routinely denied basic services as a way to root out non-believers, according to the Associated Press.

In their opening arguments, lawyers for the US Justice Department claimed both towns remained beholden to Jeffs, even as he served a life sentence in a Texas prison for sexually assaulting underage girls he considered wives.

The lawyers also depicted the church’s security operation and local police as paranoid entities that worked in lockstep and violated the civil rights of non-believers.

“All the entities work together seemingly for the benefits of FLDS and its leaders,” said government lawyer Jessica Clark.

(AP)

One government witness, Dowayne Barlow, a former aide to Bishop Lyle Jeffs, a sect leader and brother of Warren Jeffs, testified that church leaders selected who would serve as police officers and in government leadership posts in the two towns, according to the AP.

Mr Barlow said employees of the communities helped send packages of money and letters to Warren Jeffs while he was sought on charges of arranging marriages between girls and older men.

Meanwhile, a lawyer for one of the towns, Colorado City, Arizona, argued that the case had been was filed because the government found the dominant religion in the towns to be distasteful and wanted it eradicated.

“Who is discriminating against who,” lawyer Jeff Matura asked jurors.

The lawsuit against the two towns was first filed in 2012

The FLDS broke away from mainstream Mormonism when the religion disavowed polygamy more than 100 years ago. Jeff was convicted in the summer of 2011 of sexual assault of underage girls and sentenced to life in jail.

The church enforces strict rules on its members, and promotes plural marriage.

Men are supposed to have a minimum of three wives. Reports suggest that in many cases, once a young woman reaches the age for marriage, she is “placed” with a husband.

Women are told to wear long skirts, not to cut their hair short or use make-up. Men normally wear long, collared shirts and trousers.