Town Hall Meeting Talking Points

The Safety Net Committee has been successful in fighting abuse, and the Attorneys General approach has proved a successful model for the intervention process.

The Safety Net model is a more effective way to fight abuse than broad sweeps by law enforcement. Utah and Arizona have already participated in the same action currently in progress in Texas. The Safety Net model will be an asset to the State of Texas as it continues in this process.

1. The success of the raid on the YFZ Ranch by Texas authorities has not been determined. There is no question that civil liberties have been abused in an attempt to stop possible criminal activities. Utah and Arizona cannot follow its example without violating important civil freedoms. Broad law enforcement intervention in this style has already failed in these states. The Safety Net committee is a model some fifty years ahead of Texas and significantly more successful with ties inside the community and relationships with the people it represents.

2. Utah and Arizona understand that this issue is a complex question of legal and social implications and cannot be addressed by a broad brush that paints many different people with one brush stroke. While it applies to all, the law protects the individual. Mr. Shurtleff and Mr. Goddard have “brought law back into Colorado City” by establishing key services and demonstrating a willingness to prosecute abuse and protect victims.

3. Mr. Goddard has acknowledged a need for a “victim” before law enforcement can intervene. The committee has been successful in supporting its goal to protect victims while it has not make the mistake of ignoring its legal mandate to prosecute crime, not culture.

4. The Safety Net Committee must follow the states accepted definitions of abuse and will fail its purpose to represent the family if it extends its authority to include different cultural norms and belief systems.

5. Women’s RightsWomen have the right to make their own choice and build relationships of their preference. Oppression of women includes an idea that the government can dictate their partners regardless of the woman’s choice. It took more than 100 years for women to win the right to vote. In the last fifty years they have fought for the right to work. We are still fighting for the right to choose our own relationships. We refuse to be defined by men, or an idea that we are less than other women or ignorant because we do not depend on one man’s full attention to make us worthy.

6. Civil disobedience is an integral piece of American life. Opposition to laws contradictory to good conscience must be opposed through the will of the people, and their refusal to obey them. Laws regulating the relationships of consenting adults are a violation of basic rights of freedom. Educated citizens practicing civil disobedience follow in the footsteps of American founders such as Thomas Jefferson and George Washington as well as civil liberators such as Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks.

7. Government Hysteria:Senator Joseph McCarthy used rumor and innuendo to destroy lives of law-abiding citizens based on their affiliations or associations. The House Committee of Un-American Activities is a stain on the history of the legislature of the United States. If we learn from the mistake, we understand the words and actions of key figures in our Senate can have long-lasting negative impact on American citizens. There is a reason the law requires evidence for prosecution. It is reckless for public figures to call for action against lifestyles and cultures based on their belief system.