In more testimony this morning on SB 1182, the faith-healing bill:

Canyon County Sheriff Kieran Donohue said, “I stand opposed to this particular piece of legislation.” He said he’d rather see Idaho’s faith-healing exemption repealed. “The sheriff of a county is the highest ranking law enforcement officer of that particular county,” he told the senators. “I took an oath to protect all of the citizens of not just my county but the state of Idaho. This situation we are under, when these people are exempt, this small, small minority of people are exempt from the law, goes in direct conflict to the rule of law. … We are a nation of laws. And yet we have a small minority of people who are exempt from law enforcement investigating.”

He said, “In my county alone I’ve had three deaths in the last four months … one yesterday, that I can’t speak of because of an open investigation. … My hands are tied as a law enforcement officer.”

Donahue said, “I’ve heard we don’t want to criminalize the parent. If the parent is criminal, we need to prosecute. … It’s an embarrassment to our state.”

He added, “People have to understand they have to comply with the rule of law. Without the rule of law, we have chaos.”