Utah bill against polygamy under 18
In the New York Times: Young brides stir new outcry on Utah polygamy. "The State Legislature is considering a bill that would impose stiff new penalties against any polygamist convicted of marrying a girl under 18 and any religious leader who orchestrates such a union. . . . Ron Barton, an investigator in the state attorney general's office, said some fundamentalist [Mormon] groups believe that a girl's first menstruation is a sign that she is old enough for marriage. Officials say some girls are believed to be married as young as 11. But in a state where 70 percent of the population is Mormon, many of polygamist ancestry, prosecutors have only rarely filed charges against members of plural families, saying they had more serious crimes to prosecute."
