May 7, 2000
The recent decision by Juab County to prosecute Tom Green for polygamy has begun to draw national attention.
And some say it's opened a legal can of worms.
News Specialist John Hollenhorst has more.
The subject is irresistable to the tabloid media, of course, and several national news organizations have started looking into this case.
They'll have to consider an interesting question: Is polygamist Tom Green a martyr, or are his wives and children victims?
Most polygamists, like those who live in the fundamentalist community of Colorado City, are shy, even secretive, about their lifestyle.
Not so of Tom Green, who never shied away from publicity. He did an interview with KSL 14 years ago. But Green's more recent appearances on network television provoked an activist group called Tapestry of Polygamy.
Rowenna Erickson/Tapestry of Polygamy: "AND IT'S ATROCIOUS, IT MAKES ME SICK, EVERY TIME I SEE OR HEAR IT, AND TO HAVE HIM UP THERE FLAUNTING HIMSELF, DARING PEOPLE TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT."
Prosecutor David Leavitt is doing something about it, partly because the Tapestry organization has changed the climate. Green is charged with bigamy and rape of a child, in reference to an underage alleged wife.
A swirl of controversy has begun and the key question: If polygamy is a crime, who are the victims?
Erickson: "THE WIVES AND THE CHILDREN. I SEE THE WIVES AND THE CHILDREN AS VICTIMS."
But the attorney for Tom Green's five purported wives says they feel victimized only by the prosecutor.
Bill Morrison/Attorney for "Wives": "THEY'VE INDICATED TO ME THAT THEY'RE COMPLETELY SATISFIED WITH THEIR RELIGIOUS BELIEFS AND THE LIFESTYLE THAT THEY LIVE."
For attorney Morrison, the prosecution echoes two failed attempts to rescue people from polygamy. In the 1880's a state-run house was set up as a refuge for thousands of polygamist wives.
Morrison: "HONESTLY, THERE WERE TEN WOMEN THAT TOOK ADVANTAGE OF IT."
And in 1953, the state of Arizona raided Colorado City, then known as Short Creek. It turned into a national p.r. disaster as men were hauled off to jail and hundreds of children were left fatherless.
Morrison: "IS THAT GONNA HAPPEN AGAIN? IT COULD. CERTAINLY."
Erickson: "I HAVE TALKED TO YOUNG PEOPLE FROM POLYGAMIST CULTS AND THEY SAID THEY WISH THEY HAD A RAID ON IT, THEY WISHED THAT SOMEBODY HAD COME IN AND PULLED THEM OUT OF THERE. AND FREED THEM UP OF THE TORTURE, THE ABUSE, THE HORRENDOUS SEXUAL ABUSE AND THE POVERTY THEY WERE SUFFERING. THEY WOULD LOVE TO HAVE HAD A RESCUER."
Morrison: "ALL OF THESE WOMEN NOW ARE CERTAINLY BEYOND THE AGE OF EMANCIPATION, AND HAVE BEEN FOR YEARS. THEY'VE GOT CHILDREN, THEY COULD HAVE FREELY ELECTED TO LEAVE TOM GREEN IF THEY WANTED TO."
For attorney Morrison, it's a matter of protecting religious freedoms. The other side says it's a matter of protecting people who are too young or too brainwashed to help themselves.
As the case unfolds, the debate may play to a national audience.
