Pro-polygamy groups are understandably upset that a Nevada Senator has called for a Federal probe into polygamy . . . polygamy proposal called ‘witch hunt’ . . .

“It is disconcerting to have a senator take a real strong position on that,” said one Utah polygamist, who asked the Deseret Morning News not to use his name. He said all of his wives are consenting adults. “It appears to be a reaction to (Warren) Jeffs and the FLDS culture.”

Rep. Harry Reid is pushing for federal taskforce in polygamy crackdowns. However, local law enforcement says that the federal goverment has already been involved and that they have done all they can do . . . morally and legally. Reid’s using the Warren Jeffs arrest as justification for his push but this is also a point that the federal government is already involved and that the charges are limited to non-polygamy aspects of the LDS culture. However, Reid’s call specifically mentions the religious aspects in his own speech (Reid distances the LDS from the Mormon church which gave up polygamy which he is a member of) . . .

“For too long, this outrageous activity has been masked in the guise of religious freedom. But child abuse and human servitude have nothing to do with religious freedom and must not be tolerated,” Reid wrote. “Individuals who force minors into adult relationships and marriage must be brought to justice.”

The thing is that in this it is not polygamy these folks practice which is at fault but in how they practice it and the so-called human abuses are covered in other laws, laws which the federal government can more readily enforce. Polygamy is not wrong per se but child abuse and forced marriage is.

Pro-polygamy groups, of course, are upset at Reid’s call. They also have some strong justification for their points in that polygamy is technically not a federal offence but is handled at the state level, making Reid’s call for federal prosecution of polygamy problematic . . .

Members of the polygamous community of Centennial Park, Ariz., called Reid’s request a “modern-day witch hunt.” “Polygamy is not a federal offense but is to be regulated under the prerogative of state’s rights,” said Joyce Steed of the Centennial Park Action Committee. “Therefore, one could question what his justification is for asking the federal government to target their efforts on an unpopular minority. We can be sure polygamy does not represent a personal moral issue for the senator, coming out of the state that has legalized prostitution.”

Technically, states can legalize polygamy. Utah became a state under the condition that Mormons give up polygamy – a case of forced religious reform for political reasons (so much for religious freedom). Technically, Utah could legalize polygamy if they wished to. Any state could. However, it is unlikely to happen anytime soon.