What's Wrong with the Texas Polygamy Raid?

Leave aside the issue of the religious beliefs of the Fundamentalist Latter-Day Saints whose compound was raided this week in Texas. Despite how much you or I disagree with their beliefs those beliefs are protected under the US Constitution as long as they don't violate the law.

Let's look at the other problems with the raid.

1. The initial warrant named the wrong person.

Dale Barlow, the 50-year old man who an anonymous phone call accused of marrying and assaulting an underage girl. Barlow is actually on probation living in Arizona, says he’s never met the girl in question, and has not been arrested.

When an initial warrant is incorrect and subsequent warrants are based on the first then all the evidence should be disallowed. That's called "fruit of the poisonous tree."

The error regarding Barlow in the warrant could easily wind up creating a "fruit of the poisonous tree" situation where none of the evidence from the compound searches can be used in court.

2. The complainant named in the initial warrant has not been found despite the compound being emptied of all persons.

Indeed, they can’t even find the 16 year old girl who’s phone call set off the whole chain of events.

And what about the initial call?

The description of the unidentified girl's call that led to the raid on the YFZ Ranch is being questioned by some people. One person told me this morning the call sounds like ''bunk.''

Why? Much of the verbage is wrong for the FLDS sect. For example, they don't refer to ''the outsider's world.'' Non-FLDS members are ''gentiles,'' the caller pointed out. And the caller had a question: Wouldn't a doctor who treated a girl for broken ribs have been required to investigate whether the injury was accidental or the result of abuse?

3. Initial reports suggested the FLDS had been stockpiling weapons. After the raid the police reported the huge number of weapons located - 3 deer hunting rifles.

But isn't the FLDS accused of sexual abuse and marrying-off underage girls?

As Fox News' Greta Van Susteren declared, "being weird isn't a crime." And the alleged crimes of one man don't justify violating the rights of hundreds. When we identify "weird" people whose religious beliefs we don't like and pass laws criminalizing that behavior, as Hildebran did, to me that borders on "prohibiting the free exercise" of religion. This whole episodes strikes me as grandstanding and overkill.

Indeed. The FLDS are weird but a random phone call from a yet-to-be unidentified caller who may have been a fraud which named a man as a suspect who hadn't been to Texas in over 30 years seems to me to be pretty flimsy grounds for the raid in the first place.