Hypocritical Utah

Recently, I successfully litigated a whistle blower, free speech, privacy claim on behalf of Debbie Youren against Tintic School District and its officials. Although not a victim of polygamy itself, she was a victim of a misguided culture that has resulted from the societal and self-imposed isolation of the polygamists and their sympathizers.

Ms. Youren should be praised by State Government Officials for the concerns she has raised in her whistle blower action. She should be invited by Governor Leavitt to the Capitol and given a medal. Instead, prior to the trial, during the trial and now, she has been mocked, denigrated and belittled by attorneys from the Governor’s Attorney General Office and the wrongdoers from the District. Coddle by the State’s attorneys who are fishing for any technicality to escape liability or at least make Ms. Youren’s life as miserable as possible, the wrongdoers continue to deny any responsibility for their illegal conduct.

Similarly, I have successfully represent others that have had legitimate complaints against Utah State Government officials. The reaction by the Attorney General’s Office has always been, and continues to be, to metaphorically kill the messenger of such legitimate complaints and to bury the bad news. The Utah State Government’s policy towards incompetent, corrupt or bad officials seems to be the same as one of Richard Nixon’s foreign policies–"He [or she] may be [a rear body part] but at least he’s [or she’s] our [rear body part]."

In view of Debbie Youren’s treatment by the State, it is therefore ironic that the State has gone after Tom Green with such zeal. While, because of the age of his consorts, I do not condone Tom Green’s lifestyle, his most fatal failing is that he was not working for the State as a State official when his misdeeds were discovered by some disgruntled employee, and that he is not one of the more secretive, well-thought-of, wealthier and high-placed polygamists1. If he had been so fortunate, he would not have been prosecuted. To the contrary, the whistle blower that had complained about him would have been vilified, terminated and then asked to quietly disappear into some far off place–lik, say, the West Desert.

Loren M. Lambert
May 16, 2001 ©

1. The reality is that in this State, illegal consensual sexual crimes, such as sodomy, are mostly only prosecuted against the poor and minorities.