What I don’t understand is if the judge has the power to incarcerate the children for contempt, why didn’t she use that power over the parent(s) who did the poisoning? There should be serious repercussions for this kind of contempt ,ie., raising a potential “Charles Manson cult” - it’s child abuse same as if the parent(s) were beating them with a club. If it is as bad as this story indicates, maybe the kids are better off at the detention center away from them. Sounds like the judge, in a Solomon’s choice moment, refused to play any more games.
The title is incorrect. The judge didn’t compare the kids to a Charles Manson cult she compared the mother and the kids to Charles Manson cult. And she’s right. Cult members shut out non-cult family members. They prefer to live in a world of their own creation with their own set of rules.
The primary effect of the judge’s action is to remove the children from their ‘cult leader’.