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EXCLUSIVE: Liquor Lawsuit questions involvement of LDS Church

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Updated: 10/29/2011 2:38 pm | Published: 10/28/2011 3:34 pm

Reported by: Chris Vanocur

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC 4 News) - Utah's Hospitality Association wants the LDS Church to keep its nose out of the state's liquor business.

And the Association - which represents many state bars and clubs - is making its point in court.

The fact that the Hospitality Association has filed a big liquor lawsuit against the state isn't new.

But a 20 page amended complaint in that lawsuit - that's new.

According to this new complaint which was filed just days ago, the LDS Church shouldn't be helping legislators craft liquor laws.

In fact, there are several references to the LDS Church in the complaint.

Like when it says the legislator who wrote Utah's last big liquor bill got,

"...approval...from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints."

Friday, from St. George, we talked with Ken Wynn, spokesman for the Utah Hospitality Association

(Wynn is also the former Executive Director of the DABC).

Wynn told us,

"We all know the Church is a big, heavy influence in the state in everything and most particularly alcohol."

The complaint also alleges that two Church representatives,

"...warned lawmakers that if they did not agree with that Church's support of SB 314 [a big alcohol bill] there would be repercussions."

The lawsuit also claims that any liquor legislation passed with the Church's input should be declared unconstitutional.

Finally, the complaint asks that legislators be prohibited from,

"...considering the opinions of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in making alcohol policies during all future legislative sessions."

Wynn also told ABC 4,

"We're pretty convinced that the Church had a pretty heavy hand in this legislation that was just passed [SB 314].

Can't prove it, but we're very confident that they did."

Now, the Hospitality lawsuit has been filed against the governor, attorney general and the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control.

It objects to the elimination of discount drinks and to what they say are problems with the state's alcohol quota system.

The LDS Church respectfully declined comment on this matter.

Follow Chris Vanocur on Twitter: @cvan4

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NetScanr - 11/1/2011 8:42 PM

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There is a new thread that the momo church has spawned to throw us off: http://www.abc4.com/content/news/top_stories/story/Group-wants-Mormon-church-out-of-liquor-debate/ePUxlGp0xkyqYCghMlWa2Q.cspx

tarzan1234 - 10/31/2011 11:32 AM

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@nrajeff: LDS church and its devoted members should not complain when people have a negative view of the church. Everything happens for a reason. The church have money and power to influence politics and impose its own moral standards on others, that doesn't mean it should do so. Please look at the Muslim world and how negative many people look at them (possibly you might also be one of those). In many Muslim countries, they ban things and want others to follow their moral standards (this is materialized in their Sharia laws). Do you know what they also ban in the most conservative Muslim countries like Saudi Arabia? Alcohol. Of course the Mormon church doesn't reach as far, but the idea of banning things and making laws to impose your belief on others are just as disturbing. It's pretty amusing when I look at the debates on social issues. When most Republicans (which most Utahns are) go and preach about personal liberty, they want guns and want government stay out of their lives, but they also want to use government to ban many things they don't like. On the other hand, many Democrats want freedom to marry for gays or legalizing drugs, they also want to limit the use of stuff like guns. Personal liberty is two way street, you can't just pick and choose what you like or dislike. Same for alcohol, if you don't drink for religious or any other reasons, stay away from it. Don't force others to follow you by banning it. If you're up for learning something new, it's also worth to add that scientific studies have found that recreational drinking causes no harm as you might have been taught. Moderate drinking is actually good for health. Read here: http://www2.potsdam.edu/hansondj/AlcoholAndHealth.html

NetScanr - 10/31/2011 8:14 AM

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@narajeff - Prohibition doesn't/didn't work. If you'll go back a few years in history, you'll be able to read up on it and educate yourself a little. Organized crime (aka. the Mob) experienced rapid growth during this era, through providing alcohol to underground clubs. Use of Meth and Extacy IS illegal in Utah, however Utah has the highest use/abuse rate in the U.S. Under-age drinking IS illegal in Utah, but an under-age girl was taken to the hospital for alcohol-poisoning earlier this month up in Logan. Any time an outright ban is imposed to 'control' the population, the opposite often occurs.

nrajeff - 10/31/2011 5:25 AM

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tarzan1234 shared: "The LSD church tries to influence its politician members. This is reason why there are a large number of people in the US don't want to vote for Mormons like Romney...." Hey, Tarzan, if there's a state where LSD is legal, then I think the people should have the freedom to vote in a referendum to make it illegal, just like they should have the freedom to make recreational alcohol use illegal. Thanks for bringing up LSD, but there also other harmful drugs that people should be free to express opposition to.

tarzan1234 - 10/31/2011 1:16 AM

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The LSD church tries to influence its politician members. This is reason why there are a large number of people in the US don't want to vote for Mormons like Romney. This alcohol thing might not be a huge deal but what would happen if the church also tries to influence the president's decision? That would be a very scary scenario. In some parts of the Muslim world, Islam also uses the same reasoning as some people here do to justify their involvement in imposing their "moral" standards on the entire society.

nrajeff - 10/30/2011 6:54 PM

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Well, if all those DUIs were LDS people, then obviously something should be done: you should support making Utah an alcohol-free zone, which is really another way of saying "drug-free zone." Decreasing the number of inebriates in ANY state sounds like a win-win to me.

NetScanr - 10/30/2011 4:40 PM

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I'm not saying mormons or the LDS church aren't free to believe and practice whatever they wish. What I'm saying is the line must be drawn when the LDS church assists in or imposes its will on legislation, which in-turn imposes mormon restrictions on everyone. Like it or not, it's quite clear in the U.S. Constitution in the 1st Amendment: The Establishment Clause prohibits the federal, state or municipal establishment of a religion or other preference for one religion over another, non-religion over religion, or religion over non-religion. We experienced at the national level the backlash of the mormon attempt to control everyone in California in the Prop 8 referendum. It would be an interesting demographic to learn how many of last night's DUI arrests involved LDS.

nrajeff - 10/30/2011 3:29 PM

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Gee, NetScanner, I guess you're not a big fan of the democratic referendum concept...is that because having policies that are representative of society--as long as they do no harm--is too fair? What if the LDS church expressed no opinions at all on moral issues---would you REALLY praise the church then? Or would your attack du jour morph into "The Mormons are amoral--they are too gutless to take a public stand on the evils of drunk driving, alcohol addiction, and alcohol poisoning deaths on college campuses" ???

NetScanr - 10/30/2011 2:54 PM

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@ Rex & nrajeff - The U.S. is a DEMOCRACY. In a Democracy, the will of the majority does not ban the will of the minority. In a THEOCRACY like Utah, the mindset is complete and absolute control of EVERYONE. Here's something to consider. There are Muslim groups actively attempting to impose SHARIA LAW on the U.S. The Muslims believe they are right, and if we're not careful, EVERYONE will be forced to obey sharia law. This is the same mindset as mormons in Utah. Mormons know what's right, so everyone in the state must conform. When it comes to the spouse-abuse argument, for a long time Utah had one of the highest rates of spouse abuse in the country. Guess who's the guilty party? Devout mormons beating the crap out of their not so obeying wives. It was so bad that the church implemented briefings ordering their men to stop beating their wives... Utah currently has some of the highest rates of child abuse and teen suicide and the highest rate of anti-depressant prescription use in the country. Utah also boasts the highest percentage of Extacy abuse in the country! From my days at the FBI, I know Utah, Idaho & Wyoming also have the highest concentration of child pornography groups. I was warned before signing on that 75-80% of the computer forensics case-load was child porn! What 'influence' exists in these 3 states to a greater extent than others?...

nrajeff - 10/30/2011 11:25 AM

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Simple, democratic solution to the problem of recreational drug (alcohol) use in the state: a referendum with one question: "Should the recreational use of alcohol be legal in this state?" And abide by the will of the majority. Or maybe total up the costs to society of legalized alcohol use (DUI deaths, alcoholism-related spouse abuse/larceny/rehab, etc.) and all you pro-alcoholics can agree to pay more taxes than the teetotalers to cover your share of the cost for your drug of choice.

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