Posted on 04/17/2008 8:50:20 PM PDT by TeleStraightShooter
SAN ANGELO, Tex. — It took only a few minutes from the judge’s opening gavel Thursday morning for an emergency court hearing on the fate of 416 children taken by the state from a polygamist compound two weeks ago to dissolve into chaos. About 100 lawyers, for the children, their families and the state, were gathered in the main courtroom at Tom Green County Courthouse; another 100 or so were dispatched to the San Angelo city auditorium three blocks away, and connected to the main courtroom through a video conferencing system. Court exhibits had to be copied and carried between the locations by clerks. It took an hour just to enter the first exhibit into the record. Some lawyers complained heatedly to Judge Barbara Walther that the mass hearing, radically different from a typically intimate Family Court custody session, was unfair and benefited the state. Just as vehemently, Judge Walther denied their objections and said that all parties would be heard, no matter how long that took. “We have to balance the requirement in the statutes that this hearing must be held within 14 days,” Judge Walther said. “It’s not a perfect solution. I wish I could give you a perfect solution. There is not one.” She assured the lawyers for the children and their families, “You have not waived all of your rights.”
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
The state should put the community on notice that any future violations will not be tolerated.
Gather DNA from everyone and all new born children, and vigorously prosecute any felonies proved by simple scientific evidence.
There would of course, have to be cooperation between Tx, Ut & Az.
Would you recommend using legal process or just state force ?
Here's the solution, castrate all those old POS that have been raping those your girls, make them pay back all the welfare fraud by auctioning off the ranch.
Put all female children under the legal age in foster homes. Any man that has more than one wife goes to jail for twenty years for each wife.
The time for no future toleration is now. This child abuse and welfare fraud is going to stop.
Great idea! Only one problem, the 4th amendment...
Hopefully, she didn't mean that they had waived SOME of their rights simply so the state could meet it's requirement of the 14-day limitation.
It is hard to see how a specific father, mother, and child are going to get the private, full, constitutional hearing they are entitled to under the law.
Excuse me … how dare you interfere with my sexual proclivities. How dare you keep me from having sex with 12, 13 year old girls (after all, Mohammad did).
Those people knew the law, and they already violated it. Why should the state give them a second chance, and not move to protect the underage girls that are being forced into marriages against their will?
Oh, by he way … /s
The legal process; perhaps it would be easier if the known statutory rapists where given probation - where such testing requires a lower legal threshold.
Lol, sans the gravity of the situation.
i haven’t heard anybody talking about the boys. how many boys are there? does anybody know?
If we have any convictions for statutory rape and I am the judge , there will be no probation , and such long consecutive sentences parole will not be a factor .
And what if the cloistered cult doesn’t produce its newborns for official inspection?
You gonna have lawmen searching under beds for hidden kids?
Mamas floating them in the west Texas bullrushes for protection?
These folks aren’t interested in cooperation with our authorities or in obeying our laws. They see themselves, deluded as they may be, as answering to higher authority in the guise of their facist theocratic leadership.
Hey, these communities cultures have a lot I do not agree with, but I strongly feel keeping the family units together, under notice, is better any "family" substitute the government can offer.
Good question my friend. Let's disassemble the 4th:
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
Clearly there is decades of evidence to support such DNA searches as reasonable and qualify as probable cause.
such jests are not worth of reply.
Apparently you haven’t read that the children have “group parents”, and are switched around and believe that they belong to all of the adults.
Great plan commrade!
If they have done nothink vrong zhen zey shall haff nothing to hide!
It’s a closed community. The state didn’t turn a blind eye. They hid themselves behind a veil. They didn’t even file birth certificates.
If it was normal families, I’d agree with you. But normal families don’t make their kids get married underaged to people they don’t want to marry.
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