• In cases where teenage girls have babies, authorities will look closely at how old they were when they conceived, and at the father's age.
• Because polygamous sects do not file marriage certificates of second and third wives, a law allows prosecutors to charge people with bigamy (obtaining more than one marriage license) in situations where the crime appears to exists, such as multiple wives living in one house.
• Another law makes it illegal for children to marry their stepparents.
• The laws also provided for prosecutors to go after parents who allow children younger than 16 to marry.

Shannon Edmonds, of the Texas District and County Attorney's Association, says that because bigamy was a misdemeanor, it was rarely prosecuted. Now that it is punishable with stiff prison terms, prosecutors are more likely to use it, particularly if it is linked to a sex crime.

In British Columbia, Canada, where a splinter FLDS group has settled, The Province is cautioning the attorney general not to blow it if he goes forward with prosecution, like Texas is attempting.

We are entitled to wonder, since the communities in Bountiful and in Texas are satellites of the same sect, whether such activities could be common to both.

Before leaping to conclusions, however, we are reminded that the [Royal Canadian Mounted Police] spent two years investigating Bountiful and were unable to recommend charges.

The paper warns that although polygamy is illegal in British Columbia, prosecutors will need to have a rock solid case.

The attorney-general's tenacity is admirable. But the danger is that, if the courts find the polygamists are protected under the Charter, it essentially legalizes their activities.