Texas Supreme Court Rules FLDS Children to Be Returned to Parents
The State of Texas Lost Final Appeal, Polygamist Children to Go Home
In early April 2008 Texas Child Protective Services removed over 440 children from their families with the assistance of local, state, and federal law enforcement officers, according to CNN.com. This came after a telephone call to a Family Violence Center where a woman claimed she was a 16 year old girl named Sarah Jessop, and that she had been forced to marry an older man and bear his children. This call was later found to be hoax, possibly by a Colorado woman.
Children were placed in foster homes and Youth Centers all over the state of Texas. CPS was aggressive about removing the children, even going so far as to take young adult women who were pregnant and then removing their infants immediately after birth. Fathers were denied visitation with their children, and mothers were required to drive long distances to visit their children who were spread over the state.
Hundreds of attorneys from across the state stepped up to represent the children and their parents. Several parents appealed the removal of their children to higher courts, eventually to the Supreme Court of Texas. Once the judges ruled that the removal was not warranted under Texas law, the State appealed to uphold the lower court rulings. The Supreme Court ruled that the child welfare agency had overstepped their bounds by removing the children. The appellate court ruling last week said that CPS had failed to show that the over 400 children from the FLDS polygamist sect were in immediate danger.
Today's ruling is a major victory for the FLDS families. Their children will be reunited with their families and the state will be forced to prove abuse or neglect before attempting to remove any children from this sect.
Published by Rebecca Rosenburg
Rebecca Rosenburg is a freelance writer and information specialist. Rebecca has worked in the health care industry for 16 years as a CNA/Caregiver. Rebecca is also an educator with 13 years experience specia... View profile
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- Appellate Court rules that children were not in immediate danger.
- Supreme Court rules that CPS overstepped bounds in removing the children.
- Highest court in Texas rules that all FLDS children must be returned to their parents.
8 Comments
Post a CommentThe governments cannot solve mankind's problems, it is as simple as that. They may try, but they can't succeed.
Sorry Das, I don't think it is likely this case will change anything for anyone. CPS has power much greater than any police force in this nation. They can take children from a family without a warrant, without evidence, and without even making an accusation of abuse or neglect. Until the laws change and hold CPS to the same standard as law enforcement, this can keep happening. The FLDS have the funds to hire attorneys, and CPS screwed up by taking all the kids (and some adults). Normally the families targeted do not have money for lawyers and aren't able to get press coverage of their situation.
Judge Barbara Walther should be impeached and removed from the bench for her actions in this fiasco. You can read why I think so at http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/804939/texas_district_judge_barbara_walther.html?page=2&cat=9
CPS will fry in federal court. In fact, I predict this will be the end-all trial for the reign of terror CPS has unleashed nationwide. Since the early '90s, CPS has a history within the federal court system for systematic abuse and the unconstitutional raping of families. Raping for profit. The perverse funding stream is out there for everyone to see. check CAPTA/ASFA acts. Anybody who feels bad for these state-sponsored dolts and the pigs who "helped" needs to immiedately commit themselves or leave the country, maybe for North Korea. Bad for the taxpayers but it's needed badly and hopefully these insane "heroes/terrorists" will be jobless. Saying their are good CPS workers out there is liking saying a few Nazis were good. The woman who initiated this bogus call has been arrested. therefore, TX CPS had ZERO legitimate authority for ANY of the removals. Breaking state and federal law in order to "protect" is still breaking the law.
Hope CPS, the incompetent local judge who sanctioned this legal kidnapping, and the associated law "enforcement" fry in the impending federal case. It's time we started using taxpayer's funds correctly and start going after the real child abusers...the local governments.
It is a shame what these children and mothers had to go through............whatever the case maybe, the children should not have been separated from their mothers................
Good article. It was appalling that these kids were taken away from their parents.
;-);-)