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MONDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2009
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Polygamy Sect Struggling for Funds to Battle Charges

Church loses funds as it fights legal battles

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(Newser) – Members of a cash-strapped Texas polygamous sect plan to argue this week that key evidence against them should be thrown out because it was illegally obtained, the Wall Street Journal reports. Authorities say the diaries, photos, and documents they seized prove that underage marriages took place on the FLDS ranch, home to hundreds of kids. The men face criminal trials for charges including bigamy and sexual abuse.

This and other legal battles have put the church in dire financial straits. "There's a huge hemorrhaging of money," said a church spokesman. That pressure has changed the face of a once-reclusive community, where members are now taking jobs in nearby towns and marketing goods to outsiders. Officials are hopeful the spotlight has put an end to the sect’s underage marriages.

Oprah Winfrey talks with FLDS member Joy and her daughter Harmony during dinner at Yearning For Zion Ranch in Eldorado, Texas, earlier this year.
Oprah Winfrey talks with FLDS member Joy and her daughter Harmony during dinner at Yearning For Zion Ranch in Eldorado, Texas, earlier this year.   (AP Photo/Harpo Productions, Brian Piotrowicz)
Law enforcement officials assist FLDS members as they board a bus last year to be relocated off the ranch.
Law enforcement officials assist FLDS members as they board a bus last year to be relocated off the ranch.   (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Sect defendants allege that officials illegally seized information against them.
Sect defendants allege that officials illegally seized information against them.   (AP Photo/Harry Cabluck)
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2 comments
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shonangreg
May 11, 09 4:44 AM CDT
As much as I condemn the lifestyles of this church and of Sarah Palin, it is still an injustice that being the subject of a lawsuit, or dozens of them in Palin's case, can ruin you financially even if you don't lose the case. Reply
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wwwonderer
May 11, 09 3:29 PM CDT
This is the name of the game. One doesn't need to win lawsuits, just bleed the small guy. I worked for a company called Babson Bros. in the late '90s. This company sued Coca-Cola over one of its products, Surge. Long story short. Babson Bros. won the suit, but by time they won they had spent so much time and money, that the cherished product is now Westfalia ( a Babson Bros. competitor) Surge.
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