Post by Logan on Jan 21, 2016 2:50:34 GMT -6
The case is supposed to be about religious discrimination: The question is, who's discriminating against whom?
The U.S. Department of Justice claims that a polygamous sect called the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints controls the Arizona-Utah border towns of Colorado City and Hildale, and that it denies housing and police services to non-church members.
During opening arguments in U.S. District Court in Phoenix Wednesday, Justice Department attorney Jessica Clarke said that non-FLDS members in the two towns are denied "some of the most basic rights of democracy ... freedom to live in a city governed by the laws of the land, not by the laws of religion."
But attorneys defending the so-called "Twin Cities," which share utilities and a police force, say, "This case is about whether Colorado City and Hildale treat people fairly."
Continued at www.azcentral.com/topic/e85b7e4c-ae59-4084-9af1-020df1406d1d/the-arizona-republic-online/ .
The U.S. Department of Justice claims that a polygamous sect called the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints controls the Arizona-Utah border towns of Colorado City and Hildale, and that it denies housing and police services to non-church members.
During opening arguments in U.S. District Court in Phoenix Wednesday, Justice Department attorney Jessica Clarke said that non-FLDS members in the two towns are denied "some of the most basic rights of democracy ... freedom to live in a city governed by the laws of the land, not by the laws of religion."
But attorneys defending the so-called "Twin Cities," which share utilities and a police force, say, "This case is about whether Colorado City and Hildale treat people fairly."
Continued at www.azcentral.com/topic/e85b7e4c-ae59-4084-9af1-020df1406d1d/the-arizona-republic-online/ .