FLDS Leader and His Law Firm Sued Over Exploitation of Minors

Courthouse News Service reports on a lawsuit filed last week in Utah federal district court by 21 former members of the polygamous FLDS Church and their children.  In a 121-page complaint in Bistline v. Jeffs, (D UT, filed 7/13/2016)  (full text) the suit names as defendants FLDS leader Warren Jeffs, lawyer Rodney Parker and Parker's Utah law firm Snow, Christensen & Martineau, charging:

On or about August 6, 1998, Rulon Jeffs suffered a major stroke which left him largely impaired and paved the way for [Warren] Jeffs to eventually assume complete and absolute control of the FLDS. As Defendant Jeffs assumed greater control over the FLDS ..., the concept of celestial or spiritual “marriage” of children was not yet broadly practiced.... As he assumed the mantle of power that would later culminate in his self-avowed role as Prophet, ... Jeffs was committed to changing this state of affairs and was obsessed with the creation of a controlled society in which he was the absolute ruler and the wholesale rape of young girls by himself and others was treated as a ceremonially sacrosanct ritual. He sought to institutionalize this atrocious practice and to cloak it with the superficial trappings of legal acceptance, so he retained SC&M to develop an overarching scheme and plan, executed and developed by SC&M during period of years, to develop the legal framework within which Jeffs and his favored cohorts would possess means to enforce their lewd, sadistic, tortious and criminal wishes upon the FLDS people...

The complaint charges defendants with legal malpractice, breach of fiduciary duty, fraud, negligent misrepresentation, conspiracy, violation of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, aiding and abetting, and violations of RICO.

In a statement denying wrongdoing, the Snow, Christensen & Martineau law firm said in part: "Our work in protecting religious liberties and other civil rights of the FLDS was not an endorsement of or complicity in illegal behavior."

FLDS Leader Flees While On Bond Awaiting Trial

Lyle Jeffs, a leader of the polygamous FLDS Church, has fled while out on bond awaiting trial on charges of conspiracy to commit food stamp fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering.  As reported by AP and KUTV News, after being denied bond several times as a potential flight risk, earlier this month Jeffs was finally released in home confinement on the condition he wear a GPS monitor and leave the Salt Lake City house where he was staying only for work, doctors' appointments and religious services.  A warrant for Jeffs arrest was issued Sunday.

Third Canadian Special Prosecutor Can Bring Polygamy Charges Against FLDS Leader

In Blackmore v. British Columbia (Attorney General), (BC CA, June 1, 2016), the British Columbia Court of Appeal upheld the appointment of the third special prosecutor since 2007 to bring polygamy charges against FLDS Church leader Winston Blackmore who lives in Bountiful, British Columbia.  In 2011, a British Columbia court upheld most applications of Canada's anti-polygamy law. (See prior posting.) In yesterday's decision, the appeals court rejected the argument that the first special prosecutor's decision not to approve charges was final. The Province reports on the decision. [Thanks to Religion News for the lead.]

FLDS Leader Lyle Jeffs Denied Bond In Food Stamp Fraud Case

On Monday, a U.S. Magistrate Judge in Salt Lake City, Utah granted the prosecution's request to deny bond to FLDS Church bishop Lyle Steed Jeffs who is charged with conspiracy to commit food stamp fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Jeffs and ten others are charged with diverting millions of dollars in food stamp benefits to church leaders who then reallocated the benefits. (See prior posting.) KSL News reports that prosecutors convinced the court that Jeffs poses an extreme flight risk, despite the absence of precedent for denying bond in a welfare fraud case. Seven of the other defendants have been released on bond, subject to GPS monitoring and other conditions.

Federal Jury Says FLDS Twin Towns Discriminated

Yesterday an Arizona federal district court jury agreed that the towns of Colorado City, Arizona, and Hildale, Utah, and their joint water company systematically discriminated, in violation of the Fair Housing Act, against individuals who are not members of the FLDS Church in providing housing, utilities and police services. As reported by Deseret News, even though the jury awarded damages of $2.2 million to six residents, prior to the jury verdict the parties had negotiated a $1.6 million settlement under the Fair Housing Act.  According to a Justice Department press release, the suit was also filed by the government under 42 USC 14141.  The Sec. 14141 civil action does not include the right to a jury trial, so the jury's findings on that portion of the government's suit are advisory:

In its advisory verdict, the jury found that the Colorado City Marshal’s Office, the cities’ joint police department, operated as an arm of the FLDS church in violation of the establishment clause of the First Amendment; engaged in discriminatory policing in violation of the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment and the establishment clause; and subjected individuals to unlawful stops, seizures and arrests in violation of the Fourth Amendment.

(See prior related posting.)

Feds Indict FLDS Leaders On Food Stamp Fraud Charges

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Utah announced on Tuesday the unsealing of an indictment against eleven leaders and members of the polygamous FLDS Church charging them with conspiracy to commit food stamp fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering.  (Full text of indictment in United States v. Jeffs). According to the U.S. Attorney's Office:

The indictment alleges church leaders diverted SNAP proceeds from authorized beneficiaries to leaders of the FLDS Church for use by ineligible beneficiaries and for unapproved purposes. A large percentage of FLDS Church members living in the Hildale, Utah – Colorado City, Arizona, community known as Short Creek receive SNAP benefits, amounting to millions of dollars in benefits per year.

Essentially, FLDS leaders required food stamp recipients to donate their benefits to a central clearing house which then redistributed food and household items to all in the community, whether or not they were food-stamp eligible. The indictment includes counts seeking criminal forfeiture of assets.  Daily Beast  reports further on the indictments.

Utah Supreme Court Hears Arguments In Suit By FLDS Victim Against UEP Trust

The Utah Supreme Court yesterday heard oral arguments in another case growing out of Utah's attempts to reform the United Effort Plan Trust-- the trust that holds much of the property in Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz., the home of many of the members of the polygamous FLDS Church.  According to the Salt Lake Tribune, plaintiff Elissa Wall is suing the Trust for damages growing out of her 2001 forced marriage to her 19 year old cousin.  She claims that sect leader Warren Jeffs who was also at that time trustee of the UEP Trust forced her into the marriage.  She argues that Jeff's role as trustee and as sect leader cannot be separated so the Trust is also liable for his actions even now that it has a different trustee.

CNN Says Warren Jeffs Still Directs FLDS Church From Prison

In a long investigative report on convicted sexual offender and FLDS Church leader Warren Jeffs, CNN quotes a private investigator who says that while day-to-day matters are run Jeffs' brother, Jeffs himself still "actively directs church matters from prison." CNN produced an hour-long special last night on Jeffs and life inside the polygamous FLDS Church.

Suit By U.S. Against FLDS Towns Moves Ahead

United States v. Town of Colorado City, Arizona, (D AZ, June 17, 2015), is a decision in a civil suit by the Untied States against the twin towns of Colorado City, Arizona and Hilldale, Utah, and against utility companies serving the towns alleging a pattern of discrimination against residents who are not members of the polygamous FLDS Church, denying them housing, police protection and access to public services. (See prior posting.) The court refused to dismiss claims that defendants violated Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 by denying plaintiffs their constitutional rights, saying that there are material questions of fact as to whether there have been violations.  The court also allowed the United States to move ahead with its claims of violations of the Fair Housing Act, though found that plaintiff could not recover damages on behalf of certain individuals. It also held that a prior civil suit by a private party could not be relied on by the government to assert non-mutual collateral estoppel. AP reporting on the decision calls it a loss for the Justice Department.

FLDS Church and Others Fined $1.96 Million In Wage and Hour Case

The Salt Lake Tribune reported yesterday that the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division has fined the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, its operating head Lyle Jeffs, the affiliated Paragon Contractors Corp. and its officers Brian Jessop and Dale Barlow for violating the wage and hour laws in using FLDS school children and their parents to work a pecan ranch harvest. The church received the amounts paid to Paragon.  (See prior related posting.) The Department of Labor imposed a $1.96 million in civil penalties jointly against the respondents.

Former Town Marshal Outlines FLDS Control of Two Towns

Sunday's Salt Lake Tribune carried an article titled A Polygamous Community’s Cop is Spilling its Secrets. reporting on an interview with Helaman Barlow, a former marshal in the twin towns of Colorado City, Arizona and Hildale, Utah. Barlow said that the community has always been a theocracy run by the FLDS church.  Barlow cited examples of his accommodating FLDS leadership:

He knew men who took 16-year-old girls as plural wives. The marriages were sanctioned by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, so Barlow didn't report them.

He looked up license plates for church security so they could track dissenters and their families. He obstructed the FBI when it came to town.

Arizona Wins $2.18M In Attorneys Fees From FLDS Controlled Towns

As previously reported, last September an Arizona federal district court imposed a $50,000 civil penalty under the Arizona Fair Housing Act against the FLDS-controlled towns of Colorado City, Ariz., and Hildale, Utah for denying utility service to a couple because they are not FLDS members. Now in Cooke v. Town of Colorado City, (D AZ, April 21, 2015), the court ordered defendants to pay the state of Arizona (which was an intervenor in the case) was awarded $2.18 million in attorneys fees. Salt Lake Tribune reports on the decision.

Sundance Film Festival Features Documentaries on Controversial Religious Groups

This year's Sundance Film Festival began on Jan. 22 and runs until Feb. 1 in Park City, Utah.  Among the Documentary Premieres are two films that deal with controversial religious groups:

• Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief (reviewed by AP )
• Prophet's Prey (reviewed by Variety)

FLDS Members Continue To Resist DOL Subpoenas On Religious Grounds

Since 2013, the U.S. Department of Labor has been investigating whether federal child labor and wage and hour laws were violated in the 2012 harvest at the  Southern Utah Pecan Ranch. According to a Salt Lake Tribune report last September, Paragon Contractors was paid to furnish labor for the harvest, and the Labor Department suspects that FLDS Church members-- schoolchildren and their parents-- were deployed to take part in the harvest without pay.  Instead they merely got to keep half of the pecans they harvested. Paragon is owned by Brian Jessop, an FLDS Church leader, and apparently he turned over amounts the company was paid for the harvest to the Church.  In an opinion last September (see prior posting), a Utah federal district court ruled that under RFRA, church member Vergel Steed did not have to respond to a Department of Labor subpoena seeking information about the internal affairs and organization of the Church. Steed claimed that he believes the identity of Church leaders, the Church's organization and its internal affairs are sacred matters and he has vowed not to discuss them.

The Labor Department has also subpoenaed other FLDS Church members.  AP and the Salt Lake Tribune report that yesterday the same Utah federal judge handed down a ruling that may be the first step toward excusing two brothers of former FLDS Church leader Warren Jeffs from responding to subpoenas seeking information about working conditions on the farm as well as FLDS Church structure and leadership.  Judge David Sam ruled that Lyle and Nephi Jeffs have sincere religious beliefs that prevent them from answering questions by outsiders about the FLDS Church's labor practices, but they must answer questions about phone calls allegedly telling children to take off from school to work and telling parents to work without pay. The judge however heard arguments later yesterday on whether the government has a compelling interest in obtaining the Jeffs' testimony beyond this.  All of this came only a day after the ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court in Holt v. Hobbs giving a broad reading to religious liberty protections in federal law. (See prior posting.)

Canadian FLDS Leader Agrees To Court Order Barring Use of LDS Name

Last year, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (the mainline Mormon Church) filed suit in Canada against Winston Blackmore, leader of a polygamous Mormon sect headquartered in Bountiful, British Columbia for misappropriation of the trademarked name, identity and reputation of the mainline Church. (See prior posting.) The National Post now reports that earlier this week Blackmore consented to a decree enjoining him from using any variation of the name "Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" for his organization and from interfering with the mainline Church's use of the word Mormon. Under the order he is also to change the corporate name of his Canadian branch of the FLDS to "Church of Jesus Christ (Original Doctrine) Inc."

Suit Challenges Old Amendments to United Effort Plan Trust

The Salt Lake Tribune reported yesterday on a lawsuit filed in Utah state court in September, but which has so far gone largely unnoticed. Some 33 plaintiffs-- some one-time FLDS Church leaders-- are asking the court to invalidate 1998 amendments to the United Effort Plan Trust (UEP) that holds property of residents in the twin towns of Hilldale, Utah and Colorado City, Arizona.  They seek to invalidate amendments that effectively gave control of the trust to FLDS Church leader Warren Jeffs. Those amendments made FLDS membership a condition of being a trust beneficiary, and led to the eviction from their homes of non-members. Attorneys for UEP have asked the court to consolidate the case with the ongoing Probate Court proceedings which are revising the terms of the Trust.

Citing Hobby Lobby, Court Excuses Testimony From FLDS Member Who Has Religious Belief In Secrecy

Relying extensively on both the 10th Circuit and Supreme Court opinions in Hobby Lobby, a Utah federal district court has held that the Religious Freedom Restoration Act allows Vernon Steed, a member of the FLDS Church, to refuse to testify in a Department of Labor administrative proceeding about the internal affairs and organization of the Church.  In Perez v. Paragon Contractors, Corp., (D UT, Sept. 11, 2014), the Department of Labor sought testimony from Steed as part of its investigation of possible child labor violations involving work by FLDS children at a Utah pecan ranch harvest. Steed however claimed he believes that the identity of FLDS Church leaders, the Church's organization and its internal affairs are sacred matters, designated by God, and that he has vowed not to discuss them.  The court held:

It is not for the Court to “inquir[e] into the theological merit of the belief in question”. Hobby Lobby, 723 F.3d at 1137. “The determination of what is a ‘religious’ belief or practice is more often than not a difficult and delicate task .... However, the resolution of that question is not to turn upon a judicial perception of the particular belief or practice in question; religious beliefs need not be acceptable, logical, consistent, or comprehensible to others in order to merit First Amendment protection.” Thomas v. Review Bd. of Indiana Employment Security Div., 450 U.S. 707, 714 (1981)....

Petitioner has failed to show that forcing Mr. Steed to answer the questions offensive to his sincerely held religious beliefs is the least restrictive means to advance any compelling interest it may have. For example, as a less restrictive alternative, Petitioner can continue with its efforts to obtain needed information from Paragon Contractors Corporation, Brian Jessop, Dale Barlow and others who contracted to manage the pecan ranch. See Hobby Lobby, 134 S.Ct. at *2780....

UPDATE: It should be noted that the body of the opinion refers to the objecting FLDS member as "Vernon Steed", while the caption labeling the motion being ruled upon refers to him as "Vergel Steed."

Civil Penalties, Injunction Issued Against FLDS Towns

Following on a $5.3 million jury verdict against the FLDS-controlled towns of Colorado City, Ariz., and Hildale, Utah for denying utility service to a couple because they are not FLDS members (see prior posting), a federal court has now imposed a civil damage award and an injunction on the request of the state of Arizona as intervenor.  In Cooke v. Town of Colorado City, (D AZ, Sept. 4, 2014), the court impopsed a $50,000 civil penalty under the Arizona Fair Housing Act against each town and their utility companies.  It also permanently enjoined defendants from discriminating on the basis of religion in performing their official duties, and retained jurisdiction for 10 years in case of violations. The court rejected the state's request that it disband the present law-enforcement offices in the two towns and appointment of a monitor because the requested relief "would burden both Defendants and the State with a layer of bureaucracy extending into potential perpetuity." Finally the court awarded attorneys' fees to the state. Courthouse News Service reports on the decision.

Canadian Rival FLDS Leaders Indicted For Polygamy

In Canada yesterday, the Criminal Justice Branch of the British Columbia Minstry of Justice announced that indictments charging polygamy have been filed against the leaders of two rival Bountiful, BC sects of the Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints. The indictments charge that Winston Blackmore practiced a form of polygamy with 24 women, while James Oler is charged with having polygamous unions with four women. Tgey are also charged with unlawful removal of a child from Canada. National Post has more on the indictments. In 2011, atrial court upheld the constituitonality of British Columbia's anti-polygamy laws. (See prior posting.)

Suit Against FLDS Towns Over Utility Denials Is Settled

Last March, an Arizona federal court jury awarded damages of nearly $5.3 million to Ronald and Jinjer Cooke who sued claiming religious discrimination after towns controlled by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in 2008 denied them access to water, sewers and electricity for the home they were building. They claimed that Hilldale, Utah and Colorado City, Arizona refused them utility service because they are not FLDS members. (See prior posting.) Reuters reported yesterday that the litigation has now been settled and the court has dismissed the case. The financial terms of the settlement were not disclosed. The couple now has utility services from the cities.