Texas District Judge Barbara Walther Should Be Impeached for Her Role in the FLDS Fiasco

Now that a Texas appellate court and the Texas Supreme Court have stated unequivocally that Texas 51st District Judge, Barbara Walther, was wrong in ordering the removal of more than 400 children from the Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints' (FLDS) Yearning For Zion Ranch in Eldorado, Texas, it is time to consider whether or not Judge Walther should be impeached and removed from the bench.

I believe that she should be impeached and removed from the bench and have initiated an online petition calling for her impeachment. Here are my reasons why I think she should be impeached and removed from the bench.

1. Texas District Judge Barbara Walther should be impeached and removed from the bench because she violated the constitutional rights of more than 400 FLDS children and their parents.

No one has summarized the unconstitutional actions of Judge Walther better than the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas. In a message posted on their website, announcing their filing of an amicus brief, they stated:

"The ACLU brief filed today raises a number of concerns about the lack of procedural safeguards employed by the state. First, the ACLU argues that the state failed to provide parents a fair, individualized custody hearing at the highly unusual and frequently chaotic mass proceeding held before a district court on April 17 and 18, 2008. Second, the ACLU asserts that Texas custody law must be applied fairly, impartially, and without bias to the mothers. Finally, the ACLU argument focuses on a parent's right to care for her child, a right both state and federal courts have found to be more "precious" than property rights."

In a statement issued earlier on May 2, 2008, the ACLU of Texas had this to say about the actions of the State of Texas, most of which were ordered or approved by Judge Walther:

"Based upon news reports and other available information, the ACLU has serious concerns that the state's actions so far have not adequately protected the fundamental rights at stake. Specifically, the ACLU is concerned that:

1.The initial raid at YFZ was prompted by a single allegation of abuse now reported most likely to have been made by someone who never resided at YFZ. Law enforcement officials have since removed every child who was living at the ranch, regardless of age or sex, and the state has justified that decision, in part, by explaining that all children at the ranch were at risk because they were exposed to FLDS beliefs regarding underage marriage. Religion is never an excuse for abuse. But, exposure to a religion's beliefs, however unorthodox, is not itself abuse and may not constitutionally be labeled abuse.

2. Parents have been separated from their children without individual, adversarial hearings and without particularized evidence that they ever engaged in abuse or were likely to engage in abuse. Children from YFZ have since been dispersed around the state, compounding the harm of forced separation of children - particularly infants - and their parents.

3. Court-ordered DNA testing has been ordered for all children without having any specific evidence that the parentage of all children was actually in dispute. Parents have been pressured to consent to DNA testing if they wish to be reunited with their children who were forcibly separated from them.

4. State officials have an important obligation to protect children against abuse. However, such actions should not be indiscriminately targeted against a group as a whole - particularly when the group is perceived as being different or unusual. Actions should be based on concrete evidence of harm and not based upon prejudice against religious or other communities."

For a better understanding of the constitutional issues involved, I suggest downloading and reading the amicus brief.

2. Texas District Judge Barbara Walther should be impeached and removed from the bench because she violated her oaths to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of Texas.

These are the only oaths a judge takes. A judge is not supposed to be an advocate, other than an advocate for the Constitution and impartial justice. A judge should not be an advocate for the alleged victims of child abuse, anymore than she should be an advocate for the alleged perpetrators of child abuse. Rather than act as an impartial judge, Judge Walther appeared to be an advocate for Child Protective Services and the alleged victims of child abuse at the FLDS ranch.

3. Texas District Judge Barbara Walther should be impeached and removed from the bench because of the massive scale of her violations of constitutional rights.

More than 400 children's rights were violated, plus the rights of their parents. Add to that the rights of relatives who should have been allowed to take the children into their custody, rather than have them placed in foster care. The constitutional rights of more than 1000 people were violated. Furthermore, many people had several of their rights violated (e.g. lack of due process, search warrants based on insufficient evidence, etc.)

Judge Walther's actions constitute one of the greatest violations of constitutional rights in the history of the State of Texas.

4. Texas District Judge Barbara Walther should be impeached and removed from the bench because of the heavy financial burden her unconstitutional actions has placed on the taxpayers of Texas.

It is estimated that so far the State of Texas has spent 7 million dollars on the whole FLDS fiasco. But all the bills aren't in yet. And there will be lawsuits by the FLDS against the State of Texas and out-of-court settlements between Texas and the FLDS that will run into the millions of dollars.

5. Texas District Judge Barbara Walther should be impeached and removed from the bench because even after The Texas Supreme Court overruled her she hindered the reunification of the FLDS children with their parents.

Judge Walther eventually and reluctantly ordered the reunification of the children and parents, but she did so on the condition that the parents sign agreements. These agreements, according to the Associated Press required the parents to stay in Texas, and to take parenting classes among other things.

In essence, Judge Walther continued to deprive parents of several rights, even though they had not had due process.

No doubt many parents signed these agreements because they wanted to be reunited with their children. Their signatures, however, do not nullify the unconstitutionality of these agreements.

6. Finally, Texas District Judge Barbara Walther should be impeached and removed from the bench because she should have known beforehand that what she was doing was wrong.

In 1984 the State of Vermont raided a religious group's compound in Island Pond, Vermont. The raid was almost identical to the one at the FLDS ranch in Texas. The State of Vermont said that the members of The Twelve Tribes religious community was abusing their children, and all 112 children were removed from the community.

The children were returned to their parents within 24 hours when Vermont Judge Frank Mahady refused to approve the action taken by Child Protective Services. Later, Judge Mahady called the raid, "The worst state sanctioned violation of children since Herod the Great."

I am opposed to the FLDS and their beliefs. I believe that polygamy is immoral. And, of course, it goes without saying, but I will say it anyway, child abuse of any kind is abhorrent.

Nevertheless, denying people their Constitutional and human rights is also abhorrent.

If you agree with me, I hope you will add your name to the more than 1100 people who have signed my petition.