Report on Harry Reid’s anti-FLDS Senate hearing

Missing from today’s Senate Judiciary Hearing, “Crimes Associated with Polygamy,” was the one thing that would have made it credible and useful: balance. No one at the hearing spoke up for the accused.  And not a single Senator attempted to cross-examine any witness.  The disregard for fairness was shocking.

Our constitutional system of due process requires that governing agencies — from the Congress to the County Commission to County courts — allow all parties to a regulatory process the opportunity to be heard. Harry Reid, like Judge Barbara Walther in San Angelo, saw to it today in Washington that only one side of this FLDS controversy had that opportunity.

Refusing to allow willing FLDS witnesses to speak was a spiteful, dishonest trick by Harry Reid. The result is that the country has been denied a fair examination of the questions before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

I watched all but the first 30 minutes of the hearing. There was moving testimony by the anti-FLDS crowd. If what they said is true, then Warren Jeffs is a creep and criminal, every bit as evil as Judge Barbara Walther. But because neither the FLDS as a group nor Warren Jeffs, individually, was given air time, we can’t say we’ve learned anything about anyone involved. There were points but no counterpoints.

Orrin Hatch was insufferably smarmy, doing his level best to look out for the Mormon Church (by asking silly questions intended to create brand distance between LDS from FLDS) when, as a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Hatch should have been guarding due process and constitutional rights. The Constitution was clearly not his first priority today. Despite (or maybe because of) his transparent efforts at creating religious distance, I think Hatch and the FLDS witnesses came perilously close to painting the LDS and FLDS with the same brush.

The immaculately coiffed and whiney Texas AG made it clear — despite proforma verbiage to the contrary — that his agenda is to rid Texas of polygamy and the FLDS religion. The Arizona AG begged for more federal money and DOJ involvement.

One bright spot was the testimony of the U.S. Attorney for Utah, Brett Tolman, who advised Congress to (a) honor the constitutional line of probable cause, and (b) stand down and get out of the way because more high-profile federal “help” will only exacerbate whatever real legal ills exist in the polygamist communities.

Nobody listened. They were all swooning over Carolyn Jessop and Dr. Fischer and congratulating themselves on polarizing the public debate. Don’t get me wrong: Their stories are moving. If what they say is true — and that is a big if — someone should do something. But no one should do anything — like Texas CPS and Judge Barbara Walther — that violates the Constitution of the United States.