Re: Texas Polygamists--sf in real life?

In article <ddfr-0DF51C.21363021042008@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>,
David Friedman  <ddfr@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>> 
>> It's really quite simple:  If you see a pregnant 15 year old, or a
>> 16 year old nursing mother, statutory rape has occured.
>
>That depends both on the state (or nation) and on marital status. Canada 
>raised the age limit on *** to sixteen this year; before that it had 
>never been higher than fourteen. I believe the Texas limit on marriage 
>is sixteen (with parental consent), so a sixteen year old nursing mother 
>could be entirely legal. 
>
>Age of consent to marry (with parent's permission) appears to be 13 
>(female) and 14 (male) in New Hamp****re, 14 in Alabama and South 
>Carolina, 15 in Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri,  ...

The state in question is Texas.

>http://www.coolnurse.com/marriage_laws.htm
>
>Lots of states allow marriages at ages lower than the stated limit with 
>the consent of both the parents and a judge. 
>
>So your claim is false. 

Texas allows marriage as young as 16 with parental consent--15 is out.
Not that the FLDS bothers with legal marriage most of the time--it 
just leaves a paper trail that can get them in trouble.

>> >The only people connected to the FLDS that I've seen speak out 
>> >against it are men who were kicked out so the elders could keep the 
>> >male/female ratio under 1:1.
>> 
>> You haven't been reading the accounts of the female escapees.
>
>"Escapees" suggests that they were being kept in by force. Is there any 
>evidence of that?

Only the testimony of the escapees:

http://helpthechildbrides.com/stories/fawns/mestrib-01-15-04.htm

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