THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
TUESDAY APRIL 22 2008
TUESDAY, APRIL 22, 2008
NEWS
CRIME
5A
DNA tests to sort polygamist family ties
Members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints walk past sheriffs deputies as as they leave the Tom Green County Courthouse in San Angelo, Texas, Thursday. A judge has ordered DNA tests to help determine family relationships among the members of the sect involved in the 416-child custody case.
BY MICHELLE ROBERTS
ASSOCIATED PRESS
SAN ANGELO, Texas — Using cotton swabs and cameras, lab technicians began taking DNA samples Monday from hundreds of children and mothers _ many in long, pioneer-style dresses _ in hopes of sorting out the tangled family relationships within the West Texas polygamist sect.
A judge ordered last week that the genetic material be taken to help determine which children belong to which parents.
Authorities need to figure that out before they begin custody hearings to determine which children may have been abused and need to be permanently removed from the sect compound in Eldorado, and which ones can be safely returned to the fold.
State social workers have complained that over the past few weeks, sect members have offered different names and ages. Also, the children refer to all of their fathers' wives as their "mothers," and all men in their families as "uncles."
The testing went on behind closed doors at the crowded coli-
The collecting of DNA is likely to take 10 technicians
ing, but said: "No one is trying to deceive anyone. ... It's not sinister." Instead, he said that because many of the sect's marriages are not legal.
"We're not involved in the criminal investigation. That's not our objective."
GREG CUNNINGHAM Child protective services
most of the week, and it will be a month or more before the results are available, said Janiece Rolfe, a spokeswoman for the Texas attorney general's office.
Rod Parker, an FLDS attorney, acknowledged that family names within the sect can be confus-
adults and their children may legally have one name but use another within the community.
The April 3 nighttime raid on the 1,700-acre compound probably frightened the children,
said Ken Driggs, who has studied the sect extensively. "If somebody had taken the time to approach them in a way that was respectful, they probably would have gotten the information they needed," Driggs said.
The children will be placed in
group homes or other quarters until individual custody hearings can be completed by early June. Officials said they will try to keep siblings together when possible, though some polygamous families may have dozens of siblings.
The testing will involve 437 children and possibly hundreds of adults. State authorities revised their count of the children from 416 as they developed better lists and discovered that not all the female members who claimed to be adults were over 18.
The testing will be more far complicated than that of the typical custody or support case.
In a typical custody case, "maternity is already established," Rolfe said, but in this case, researchers will have to determine the identity of both parents.
Each person who submits to a test will be photographed, and the inside of his or her cheek will
be swabbed to remove cells for analysis.
The DNA sampling is an enormous undertaking for a state that typically tests only 1,000 children a year.
Some of the adults have ordered by the state of Texas to submit to testing.
Others are being asked to do so voluntarily.
But how many will do that is unclear.
Parker said he is afraid authorities secretly intend to use the DNA to build criminal cases.
But state Child Protective services spokesman Greg Cunningham said: "We're not involved in the criminal investigation. That's not our objective."
Authorities believe the sect forces underage girls into marriages with older men.
MILITARY
Felons recruited to meet combat troop numbers
BY LOLITA C. BALDOR ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — Under pressure to meet combat needs, the Army and Marine Corps brought in significantly more recruits with felony convictions last year than in 2006, including some with manslaughter and sex crime convictions.
Data released by a congressional committee shows the number of soldiers admitted to the Army with felony records jumped from 249 in 2006 to 511 in 2007. And the number of Marines with felonies rose from 208 to 350.
Those numbers represent a fraction of the more than 180,000 recruits brought in by the active duty Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines during the fiscal year ending Sept. 30. But they highlight a trend that has raised concerns both within the military and on Capitol Hill.
The bulk of the crimes involved were burglaries, other thefts, and drug offenses, but nine involved sex crimes and six involved manslaughter or vehicular homicide convictions. Several dozen Army and Marine recruits had aggravated assault or robbery convictions, including incidents involving weapons.
Both the Army and Marine Corps have been struggling to increase their numbers as part of a broader effort to meet the combat needs of a military fighting wars on two fronts. As a result, the number of recruits needing waivers for crimes or other bad conduct has grown in recent years, as well as those needing medical or aptitude waivers.
House Oversight and Government Reform Committee
Chairman Henry Waxman, who released the data, noted that there may be valid reasons for granting the waivers and giving individuals a second chance.
But he added, "Concerns have been raised that the significant increase in the recruitment of persons with criminal records is a result of the strain put on the military by the Iraq war and may be undermining military readiness."
The services use a waiver process to let in recruits with felony convictions, and many of the crimes were committed when the service members were juveniles.
For example, in several of the Marine sex crime cases, the offender was a teenager involved in consensual sex with another underage teen. In one Army case, a 13-year-old who threw a match into his school locker was charged with arson and had to receive a felony waiver six years later.
"Waiwers are used judiciously and granted only after a thorough review," said Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Jonathan Withington.
He added that "low unemployment, a protracted war on terror, a decline in propensity to serve," and the growing reluctance of parents, teachers and other adults to recommend young people go into the military, has made recruiting a challenge.
Late last fall, the Pentagon quietly began looking for ways to make it easier for people with minor criminal records to join the military. The goal of that review is to make cumbersome waiver requirements consistent across the services _ the Army, Marine Corps, Navy and Air Force_ and reduce the number of petty crimes that now trigger the process.
TRADE
ASSOCIATED PRESS
President Bush talks to visitors at Louis Armstrong International Airport in Kenner, La., Monday upon his arrival. He continued his support of the trade agreement among Canada, Mexico, and the United States that has come under pressure in congress.
Bush stays optimistic about NAFTA
BY DEB RIECHMANN
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Opening a two-day summit with Calderon and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Bush hailed the benefits of cross-border trade despite a rising protectionist sentiment on Capitol Hill. The president said that when he and Calderon were growing up, the border was poor, but today it's prospering.
NEW ORLEANS — President Bush and Mexican President Felipe Calderon strongly defended free trade across North America on Monday, fending off anti-trade remarks that Democrats running for the White House are using to lure working class voters.
"Our trade has tripled, and our economies have grown," said Bush, who decided to host the summit in New Orleans to showcase its rebirth following Hurricane Katrina. "This has been a very positive aspect for both our countries."
Calderon was more specific, saying the North American Free Trade Agreement is misunderstood. Launched in 1994, the accord eliminated trade barriers
"I stress this issue because recently NAFTA has come under criticism," the Mexican president said. "And I do not believe that people are realizing how many benefits NAFTA has brought, both to the United States and to Mexico."
among the United States, Mexico and Canada.
Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton, rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination, both have threatened to pull the U.S. out of NAFTA if elected as a means to pressure Canada and Mexico to negotiate more protections for workers and the environment. Bush calls the idea isolationist and reckless.
He said the far-reaching trade deal has led to the creation of hundreds of thousands of jobs on both sides of the border,has offered more choices to consumers and has raised the quality of products.
Clinton, D-N.Y., has made opposition to new trade deals a centerpiece of her campaign and has vowed to at least re-negotiate NAFTA, which has been blamed for moving blue collar jobs to Mexico and elsewhere. Obama, D-III., has chided Clinton about NAFTA, saying it was passed while her husband, former President Clinton, was in office.
Recently in Pittsburgh, Clinton told manufacturers and union workers that her husband made mistakes related to NAFTA that she plans to fix. She said she would correct problems that have led to job losses, or would tell Canada and Mexico the United States is pulling out of the agreement.
While Obama and Clinton compete in Tuesday's Democratic primary in Pennsylvania, Bush is using the summit in Louisiana as a stage to not only promote NAFTA, the world's largest trading zone, but push Congress to ratify free trade deals with Panama, South Korea and Colombia. The House recently put off a vote on the Colombia free trade pact, making it less likely that it will be approved this year.
Before his meetings with Calderon and Harper, Bush attended a ceremony to reopen the Mexican consulate in New Orleans. The Mexican government closed the consulate as a cost-saving measure in 2002.
The KU Alumni Association presents
TRADITION KEEPER Appreciation Week
We'd like to thank our current Tradition Keeper members and encourage them to renew for 2008-09 on Optional Campus Fees! Also, it's not too late to join for this year if you'd like to be a member - just stop by our events this week and find out how to be a proud member of this Jayhawk flock!
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