An anonymous report of sexual abuse set off a raid of a polygamous sect in Texas

National Review, May 19, 2008

An anonymous report of sexual abuse set off a raid of a polygamous sect in Texas. What the authorities have uncovered should dispel any illusions about what tolerance of polygamy is likely to yield. More than half of the teenage girls on the compound have had children, very likely by older men. But it cannot be said that the state has handled this case well.

More than 400 children, including toddlers, have been removed from their mothers, at least temporarily. Both the culture and the law should support monogamous marriage as the way of life most compatible with human flourishing and republican government. Allowing a polygamous community to grow undisturbed, and then assaulting it with the legal equivalent of tanks, does not strike us as a wise policy.