Las Vegas
Warren Jeffs, leader of a breakaway Mormon sect that practices polygamy, was arrested this week near Las Vegas and charged with arranging a marriage between an underage girl and an older, married man. Jeffs, 50, is head of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a sect denounced by the mainstream Mormon church. It is one of several Mormon splinter groups in Arizona and Utah that practice plural marriage, which the mainstream church banned in 1890. Few people familiar with the groups expect them to abandon polygamy. “It’s been here 100 years and it’s not going to go away because one guy got arrested,” said Flora Jessop, who left the Fundamentalist Church in 1996.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
Iran president dead in helicopter crashSpeed Read Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian were found dead at the site
-
'Time-honored political tactic: Throw your wife under the bus'Today's Newspapers A roundup of the headlines from the US front pages
-
Best non-alcoholic spirits for summer cocktailsThe Week Recommends As hard liquor takes a backseat for many, the ingredients for the perfect mocktail are dryly delicious
