Reid compares polygamy to 'organized crime'

FLDS supporters decry Demo senator's actions WASHINGTON — Congress seemed to step back into the 1880s on Thursday, as polygamist women in pioneer dresses listened in a packed hearing room as the Senate's leader urged stepped-up law enforcement against criminal syndicates he says lead polygamous groups. Unlike the anti-polygamy crusades of the 1800s, the leader this time is a Mormon: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. And he applauded the fact that the hearing on crimes by polygamists came before the Judiciary Committee on Pioneer Day. "We do honor our pioneer ancestors by condemning those who have wrongfully cloaked themselves in the trappings of religion to obscure their true criminal purposes," Reid said, as the national media watched and national cable TV carried comments live. "I am here to tell you that polygamist... [read full story]