Court: Sect Kids Must Be Returned Home
Texas Supreme Court Upholds Lower Court Ruling, Says Welfare Officials Overstepped Their Authority
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Victory For Texas Polygamists
Two courts have now ruled that Texas Child Protective Services overstepped their authority by removing approximately 430 children from a polygamous ranch. Hari Sreenivasan reports.
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Dan Jessop and his wife Louisa Bradshaw are surrounded by cameras as they leave the Tom Green County Courthouse, Friday, May 23, 2008 after a custody hearing on their newborn son. The mothers of children taken from a polygamist sect accuse authorities of ignoring the law. (AP/Trent Nelson, Salt Lake Tribune)
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Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints mothers including Esther Jessop Barlow, left, and Monica Sue Jessop, right, each with five children in custody, smile as they leave the Tom Green County courthouse after hearing news of a court ruling in their favor in San Angelo, Texas, Thursday, May 22, 2008. An Austin, Texas, appeals court ruled that the state had no cause to take their children. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
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Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints mothers including Marie Steed, center, and Sarah Marlow, right, smile as they leave the Tom Green county courthouse after a ruling in their favor in San Angelo, Texas, Thursday, May 22, 2008. (AP Photo/L.M. Otero)
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Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints mothers including Esther Jessop Barlow, right, and Monica Sue Jessop, center, each with five children in custody, smile after a bystander told them the news of a court ruling in their favor in San Angelo, Texas, Thursday, May 22, 2008 (AP Photo/L.M. Otero)
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Photo Essay
Separation Anxiety
Some mothers in polygamist sect separated from children as part of abuse investigation.
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Polygamist Compound Raid
Secret calls from alleged abuse victim lead to raid of religious sect's compound.
The high court affirmed a decision by an appellate court last week, saying Child Protective Services failed to show an immediate danger to the more than 400 children swept up from the Yearning For Zion Ranch nearly two months ago.
"On the record before us, removal of the children was not warranted," the justices said in their ruling issued in Austin.
The high court let stand the appellate court's order that Texas District Judge Barbara Walther return the children from foster care to their parents. It's not clear how soon that may happen, but the appellate court ordered her to do it within a reasonable time period.
Read the majority opinion here.
Read the dissenting opinion here.
The ruling shatters one of the largest child-custody cases in U.S. history. State officials said the removals were necessary to end a cycle of sexual abuse at the ranch in which teenage girls were forced to marry and have sex with older men, but parents denied any abuse and said they were being persecuted for their religious beliefs.
Texas child protective services had argued that it removed the children without a court order because there was an urgent need to protect them from what was termed a pervasive culture of physical and sexual abuse, where underage marriage and pregnancy was common, and that the children were all part of one big household and therefore one child at risk, put them all at risk, reports CBS News Correspondent Hari Sreenivasan.
"This is not a slam dunk ruling," says CBS News legal analyst Andrew Cohen. "It allows the state to separate children from sect members it alleges to have harmed children and ensure that the children are not removed from the court's physical jurisdiction. So this still gives Texas some cards to play."
Every child at the ranch run by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in the west Texas town of Eldorado was removed; half were 5 or younger.
CPS officials said they were disappointed by the ruling but would take immediate steps to comply.
"We are disappointed, but we understand and respect the court's decision," the agency said in a written statement.
FLDS elder Willie Jessop said parents were excited about the court's decision but would remain apprehensive until they get their children back.
"We're just looking forward to when little children can be in the arms of their parents," he said. "Until you have your children in your hands, there's no relief. But we have hope."
Standing outside the Texas Supreme Court building with attorneys for the families, Martha Emack, mother of a 2-year-old and a 1-year-old, echoed that sentiment.
"I'm happy (when) all the children are back to their mothers and we're home," said Emack, whose children have been staying at an Austin children's shelter.
The case before the court technically only applies to the 124 children of 38 mothers who filed the complaint that prompted the ruling, but it significantly affects nearly all the children since they were removed under identical circumstances.
The Third Court of Appeals in Austin ruled last week that the state failed to show that any more than five of the teenage girls were being sexually abused, and had offered no evidence of sexual or physical abuse against the other children.
The FLDS, which teaches that polygamy brings glorification in heaven, is a breakaway sect of the Mormon church, which renounced polygamy more than a century ago.
Roughly 430 children from the ranch are in foster care after two births, numerous reclassifications of adult women initially held as minors and a handful of agreements allowing parents to keep custody while the Supreme Court considered the case.
Texas officials claimed at one point that there were 31 teenage girls at the ranch who were pregnant or had been pregnant, but later conceded that about half of those mothers, if not more, were adults. One was 27.
Under Texas law, children can be taken from their parents if there's a danger to their physical safety, an urgent need for protection and if officials made a reasonable effort to keep the children in their homes. The high court agreed with the appellate court that the seizures fell short of that standard.
CPS lawyers had argued that parents could remove their children from state jurisdiction if they regain custody, that DNA tests needed to confirm parentage are still pending and that the lower-court judge had discretion in the case.
The justices said child welfare officials can take numerous actions to protect children short of separating them from their parents and placing them in foster care, and that Walther may still put restrictions on the children and parents to address concerns that they may flee once reunited.
© MMVIII The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.



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Posted by SusanHelit at 03:56 PM : May 29, 2008
I disagree. I am sure that the sect broke many laws and it needs to stop. In most sensible states there would have been an investigation AND THEN some arrests of people that they could actually prove broke the law. That is how it works in america. They did all this on an anonomous phone call and did not find the victim there. That is when they should have left and started an investigation. How would you like it if someone called DCF on you because they were mad about something and the state came and took your children with no questions asked and kept them until you were proven innocent? This is the same thing but on a grand scale. Texas citizens are going to pay dearly for this one.
no kidding. any parent with common sense will want to remove their children from texas, home of the KLK (krazy lesbians kult), which is still trying to farm out the morman children to infertile lesbian couples throughout texas.
you can bet that several of the children will go "missing" and will never be returned to their parents. texas--not the mormans--has a BIG accountability problem with children and has got some ''splaing to do.
Posted by SusanHelit
no, the appeals court and the supreme court are right. YOU and the KLK (krazy lesbians kult) are wrong.
you have only made-up allegations that you cannot prove. but you''ll keep whining, won''t you? wha, wha, wha!
I''m so happy to hear this.
Posted by CultureChang
ya, but what you and the other KLK (krazy lesbians kult) members here don''t admit is that FIRST, you need a REAL crime--not just unsubstantiated allegations or a "hunch". use your brains people. you sound like brainwashed cult members. oh, you ARE brainwashed cult members.
You have some issues. In the whole landscape of this story are lesbians the most evil thing in sight? If so, they must be really evil nasty scary!! Calm down and mellow out. We really do not want to see WW III between Texas and the Mormons. Oh wait. Maybe we do.
Posted by deacon20081
you first, dear.
when are you KLK (krazy lesbians kult) members going to quit whining and realized that you''re all full of dirty filthy snot?
you''re wrong; the mormans are right. end of story.
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Posted by cpaide at 06:20 PM : May 29, 2008
Nope, sorry, CPS has the legal authority to act on even a whisper of child abuse, which is what they did.
And I suspect the children will be returned to the parents when CPS has absolute proof that they have not been abused.
I also suspect that CPS will be involved in counseling these individuals as to their freedoms under the law, and by educating them to the fact that their religion is not above the law of the land.
In any case, it was a good thing, what they did. It will put these old perverts on notice that someone is watching, and should they try to keep forcing these girls into *** with these perverted old bastwards, they''ll shut them down again.
Posted by makili217
spoken like true mentally-deranged lesbians. but now i''m being redundant, yes?
you can''t stand to see real intelligent women without makeup, hair extensions, fake boobs and snotty attitudes like your soap opera idols that you never fail to worship on the television.
which brings up another question: do you really have time to watch soap operas AND whine about the mormans on the internet all day long?
please get day jobs, like the morman women.
Isn''t it just awful not to be able to take mob action and hang all these people? Isn''t it just awful that a Constitution gets in the way of denying due process? Don''t you just wish you could rip up that Constitution?
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Posted by sspaur at 06:25 PM
Darrnn! That Constitution getting in the way!
It will also bring on an audit of welfare fraud from these people who can''t even prove up which kids belong to whom!
And this trial opens the scope of investigation into this organization as the money required to support it is far greater than what the organization reports in earnings, that even the taxes on the property far exceeds what this romper room compound can earn by itself and its supposed self sufficiency.
you''re clueless. the texas supreme court ruled that the Child "Protective Services" acted on unsubstantiated allegations (or as you say "a whisper") and thereby overstepped its bounds.
your other "suspicions" are incorrect, as you can see if you will read the supreme court decision. the CPS will do no more "counseling" (they would need qualified personnel for that), and they will return the children within a reasonable amount of time, without conditions.
read the decision BEFORE you post, people.
Isn''''t it just awful not to be able to take mob action and hang all these people? Isn''''t it just awful that a Constitution gets in the way of denying due process? Don''''t you just wish you could rip up that Constitution?
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Posted by rudy654 at 06:28 PM : May 29, 2008
Due process was taken. They will get their children back once it is proven they have not been sexually abused.
The Supreme Court action will only make the lower courts more determined to prove up their stance.
Posted by ajane21
i agree. let''s start with your darling little $hit-@$$ kids. take away their nintendo, ipods, cell phones, mtv, etc. etc. and teach them to live as intelligent, dignified human beings.
guess we won''t be needing you for that.
you are entirely ignorant of the morman people''s financial situation. all you have are unsubstantiated allegations of welfare fraud, etc.
why don''t you spend your time fighting welfare fraud by illegal immigrants? their fraud has been documented and substantiated by numerous authoritative sources. or maybe you''re concerned that you might get swept up in the investigation, yes?
No, you need to read it...
"The high court let stand the appellate court''s order that Texas District Judge Barbara Walther return the children from foster care to their parents. It''s not clear how soon that may happen, but the appellate court ordered her to do it within a reasonable time period"
Reasonable time is to be defined by the CPS who is definitely not going to act hastily to give these children back to these perved old goats.
Posted by ryanjcooper
of course, dear. america is so pure and good. never mind the fornication, adultery, homosexuality, etc., etc., etc.
america. that''s funny.
Isn''''t it just awful not to be able to take mob action and hang all these people? Isn''''t it just awful that a Constitution gets in the way of denying due process? Don''''t you just wish you could rip up that Constitution?
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Posted by rudy654 at 06:28 PM : May 29, 2008
C''mon, Rudy, get all your young girls together and go join up! See which one of the pervted old goats gets their hands on them first. They''re just salivating for new virgin recruits.
C''mon Rudy...*** the Constitution and get your girls packed up and take ''em out there and abide by the Constitution that allows them freedom of choice...and then let them decide their fate...maybe they''ll ''marry'' them off to two or three of those old perverts.
all that you''re doing is quoting what i said in the first place.
except for your incorrect assertion that the cps defines what "reasonable" means. they (like you) obviously have no idea what reasonable is.
read the supreme court decision again and then the appellate court decision. if you have 1/2 a brain, you''ll come across the answer. i think you will--but then again, i''m a real big optimist.
The objective of the KLK (whose members include the Texas social workers and trial judge on the case) is to obtain the humble, white Mormon children and adopt them out to infertile lesbian couples, and that is happening right now, in spite of the Texas Supreme Court ruling.
Once these kids are in the hands of the KLK, they''re told there is no such thing as too early for ***. Whenever the head lesbian tells them to go ''marry'' an old lesbian, that''s who they''re given to. They''re groomed to be pedophile fodder. Information presented shows that they''re given to be concubines (not wives - lesbians can''t have wives) at puberty or before, and have un-natural $ex while still children themselves.
except for your incorrect assertion that the cps defines what "reasonable" means. they (like you) obviously have no idea what reasonable is.
read the supreme court decision again and then the appellate court decision. if you have 1/2 a brain, you''''ll come across the answer. i think you will--but then again, i''''m a real big optimist.
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Posted by cpaide at 06:44 PM : May 29, 2008
If you had half a brain, you wouldn''t be supporting a lifestyle that rips freedom of choice from these young girls!
If you had half a brain, you wouldn''t be supporting rape! And you wouldn''t be supporting that this group of perverts has rights above the law to force young girls into marriage.
If you had half a brain, you couldn''t support a bunch of old perverts kicking out all the young boys so that they have no competition for each new virgin that becomes available.
By your posts I suspect you don''t even have half!
The Supreme Court Action has only knocked down THIS case...but when they come back with their proof when they get get it...the law of the land will prevail.
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