PHOENIX — Two polygamy towns in Arizona and Utah violated the constitutional rights of nonbelievers by denying them basic services such as police protection, building permits and water hookups, a jury said Monday.
The civil rights trial marks one of boldest efforts by the government to confront what critics have long said was a corrupt regime in Colorado City, Ariz., and Hildale, Utah. The towns were accused of doing the bidding of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, a radical offshoot of mainstream Mormonism, which disavowed polygamy more than 100 years ago.
The judge will decide which punishments to impose on the towns. Federal authorities have not specified the changes they will seek, but they could ask for the Colorado City Marshal’s Office to be disbanded and for its duties to be handed to local sheriff’s offices.
The seven-week trial provided a rare glimpse into the communities that for years have been shrouded in secrecy. It also came as the federal government is waging fights on multiple fronts to rein in the activities of the church.
