FLDS Raid a Constitutional Travesty

If one of the many people who think me a snarky bitch, anonymously called up the local police and told them that I, and a guy who has not been in Arizona for thirty years, was holding them captive , even though the evidence is somewhat less than overwhelming, I think it would be a good idea for the police to check out the situation.

If when they arrived, they did not find this anonymous person, nor the person who has not been anywhere near here for three decades, but noticed a couple of pregnant teenagers, that should be the end of the matter. After all, pregnant teenagers are not exactly an endangered species.

That is precisely what should have happened in Texas with the the FLDS. Now I am far from sympathetic to those who abuse children, and I have even argued, much to the distress of my libertarian pals, that there is a valid reason for the state to actually prohibit polygamy, even in the rare case where statutory rape is not a factor.

But what is much worse is for the authorities to make a mockery of the fundamental constitutional requirement of a search warrant based upon actual facts which constitute probable cause.

We fought a revolution over this.

You can read the entire application affidavit for the search warrant which kicked off the raid in Eldorado, Texas at The Smoking Gun.

The officer who wrote out the affidavit simply stated that some domestic violence outfit was contacted by an anonymous person who claimed they were a sixteen year old girl, had been forced to marry a creepy old guy named Dale Barlow, who had impregnated her, and was now holding her against her will at the Church's compound.

The authorities went and checked the story out. They did not find the pretend girl, or Dale Barlow, who they had no evidence had ever been in Texas. They did notice several teenage mothers and pregnant teenagers.

Those are the only facts.

The affiant then recites a number of conclusions, with no detail on how he arrived at them. It is stated that “in the course of the investigation” it was determined that the sect has a practice of forcing underage girls to marry old geezers as soon as they reach puberty.

I think most of us can agree that the speculative conclusions of the affiant are not out of this world. But in America we do not arrest people or search their homes because of opinion, conjecture or rumor—no matter how widespread or popular they may be.

The warrant shouldn't have been issued unless there was some specific factual evidence on how this information was obtained. In the course of looking for the pretend girl did some of these kids relate this? Did it come from a “reliable confidential informant?”

There was no evidence like that, or the police officer would have included it in his affidavit. And for a judge to issue a search warrant, the supporting facts must be stated in the affidavit.

Since then another pretend girl called a domestic hotline in Arizona and made similar allegations about the FLDS community in Colorado City. The Arizona authorities decided not to call in the SWAT team and run roughshod over the Constitution.

Dale Barlow was interviewed by Texas law enforcement officers today.

After the interview his lawyer drove him back to his home.