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Well, we probably won't be seeing those colorful prairie dresses and perfect tresses on the front page of the newspapers again very soon. I've been fascinated by the Yearning for Zion ranch drama, which I—like Dahlia, in her great piece comparing the seizure of children to the warehousing of Guantanamo prisoners—have been all but sure would end badly: the overintrusive state would sabotage itself, and the insular compound would become more insular and defensive than ever. But to judge by news reports of the deal struck yesterday, I'd say, with somewhat mixed feelings, that the monthslong mess may well rate as a victory for the state, and maybe for teen mothers, too-even if it was a legal travesty.
The real goal all along, or so it seems plausible to me, has been a criminal prosecution of male leaders of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints found to have impregnated, and otherwise mistreated, young adolescent girls bound to them in "spiritual marriages." It was a Herculean challenge, given a community so barricaded against the outside world. But a sweeping raid, however unwarranted it was soon judged to be, forced open the doors long enough to gather DNA and other evidence from the women and children necessary to substantiate any charges. What's more, the judge's order yesterday evidently specifies that the criminal investigation go on, and facilitates it by barring sect members from traveling outside Texas. In addition, it subjects sect members to continued scrutiny by Child Protective Services. Already the prospect of such supervision seems to have elicited an avowal that the sect will cease to condone underage marriage. It's enough to make ignoring legal requirements look like good social policy-fitting in its way, I suppose, when dealing with a community based on polygamy.