The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "Polygamy" ...
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Nope
The article examined president-elect Barack Obama's nomination of Arizona Governor, Janet Napolitano, to head the Department of Homeland Security. The New Times investigation found Governor Napolitano lacked the administrative skills necessary to run a troubled cabinet post like Homeland Security. The article also examines her lack of initiative and leadership during the polygamy scandal which began in Arizona and continues to unfold in Texas (at time of submission, 1/2009.)
Tags: Janet Napolitano; Arizona; Department of Homeland Security; Immigration; Polygamy; Obama cabinet
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The Enclave
David Kelly and Gary Cohn of the Los Angeles Times investigate the failure of public agencies to check the activities of a religious sect on the border of Utah and Arizona. The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (FLDS), an offshoot of Mormonism is the sect. Its members have engaged in polygamy, sexual abuse, spousal abuse and child abuse with no government intervention to curb these crimes.
Tags: Religious sect; sexual abuse; child abuse; lax law enforcement; Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; FLDS; Mormon offshoots
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Polygamy in Arizona
These stories are the latest in the investigation Dougherty began in 2002, which uncovered widespread sexual abuse within a religious society that coerces underage girls into polygamous unions with much older men. In these stories, Dougherty discovered that the sect was in the process of relocating to Eldorado, TX. He also found that the community is afflicted by a rare genetic disorder as a result of its history of inbreeding. Finally, the stories discuss the relationship between the state and the community, especially in the state-funded school district which employs a lot of community people.
Tags: Colorado City; Mormons; Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints; sexual abuse; child abuse; cults; state government; local government; polygamy; sect
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Romeo's Revenge
This investigation found that Romeo Marquez, the publisher of Philippine Village Voice, a community newspaper, used his paper as a means to shame his former girlfriend. He included explicit details of their sexual relationship in the paper, along with an account of her alleged abortion. Furthermore, during the investigation KGTV 10 found that Marquez had two wives in the United States, one wife in the Philippines and also filed false statements to the US government to help his immigration status.
Tags: sexual harassment; polygamy; corruption
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"Polygamy in Arizona"; "Bound by Fear: Polygamy in Arizona,"
A fundamentalist Mormon Church in Arizona has erected a separate society in which polygamy is openly encouraged and enforced, in violation of the Constitution of Arizona and Utah. The church, whose members own most, if not all of the property in town, is also able to tap into the state's welfare system in order to support their large families. In many cases, the brides are underage and are stripped of all civil rights and forced to marry. All property and jobs are all controlled by one "prophet," as well as the self-erected political system of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ and the Latter-Day Saints.
Tags: polygamy; Mormon Church; fundamentalism; Arizona; Utah; Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ and the Latter-Day Saints.
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Price of Polygamy
This story investigates the town of Colorado City, on the border of Arizona and Utah. The town is a religious community that has shirked social norms to live according to standards of a fundamentalist sect of the Mormon Church. The citizens practice polygamy, and young women are forced into arranged marriages as teenagers. People who have escaped from Colorado City share horror stories about rape and abuse. Furthermore, because men in these families only legally marry one wife, the other women in the household are considered single mothers and therefore qualify for welfare. What results is millions of taxpayer dollars going to a community where abuse is common and basic human rights are denied.
Tags: human rights; family; polygamy; child abuse; domestic violence; Church of Latter Day Saints; welfare abuse
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True Believers
Dateline investigates an Arizona-based group named the "Aquarian Concepts Community." They found that the group used several psychological tactics, including psuedo-therapy sessions, to convince the recruits they needed to give up all their money and leave their families.
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The Social and Political Costs of Polygamy
The Salt Lake Tribune investigated two polygamist communities in Utah. One community relies heavily on welfare programs to support their large numbers of children. The other has been marrying incestuously and sexually abusing children with little or no threat of prosecution.
Tags: Crime; Mormon Church; Polygamy; Marriage; Protests
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Happy Doomsday
Draper investigates the House of Yahweh of Abilene, Texas and its leader, Yisrayl Hawkins. He tries to answer the question: another Waco, or simply wacko? Draper finds Hawkins is an experienced con-artist who changed his name from Buffalo Bill Hawkins in 1982. The self-titled holy man has pulled off a lifetime of shady money-making schemes and created a cult based on his interpretation -- or rejiggering -- of Scripture. In his guarded compound, Hawkins preaches that polygamy is acceptable and that the world will end in 2000.
Tags: cult; Biblical interpretation; manipulation; Hebrew
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Slaying and Disappearance of 2 Polygamists Dissimilar
Deseret News (Salt Lake City) reports that many followers of a dead polygamist cult leader are murdering ex-followers; also reports on a dozen other cult leaders who may be using violence.