Benson awards control of $114M to polygamous church members in controversial federal court decision

WARREN JEFFS

In Salt Lake City, Utah, a federal judge has turned control of $114 million in communal assets over to leaders of a polygamous church founded by jailed religious Warren Jeffs. U.S. District Court Judge Dee Benson said that church leaders, and not the state of Utah, should manage the assets being held by the United Effort Plan Trust.

Utah courts previously authorized the seizure of trust money during 2005. The following year, a state judge permitted the trust to be stripped of its religious tenets and opened its class of beneficiaries to former church members. About 6,000 church members then sued in federal court.

The New York Theological Seminary is an institution dedicated to multiculturalism, diversity, social justice and religious tolerance. The mission of the seminary is to prepare men and women, from every background, for careers in ministry.