Posted on 04/19/2008 10:46:28 AM PDT by ricks_place
SAN ANGELO, Texas - In a swift end to a trying, emotional hearing, a Texas judge said Friday night that 416 children are better off in state custody than with their parents, who belong to a controversial polygamous sect.
If the parents are ever to get their children back, they will have to provide a safe environment, 51st District Judge Barbara Walther told about 75 mothers and fathers of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
The Texas Child Protective Services used just four witnesses to persuade the judge that a polygamous community where underage girls sometimes marry is a threat to all children.
The ruling came two weeks after authorities raided the sect's ranch nearEldorado and five years after the FLDS, based on the Utah-Arizona border, expanded to western Texas.
CPS spokeswoman Marleigh Meisner said the department will move fast to place the children in foster homes or in customized arrangements as recommended by a psychiatrist who told the judge traditional foster care would be "destructive." She added that children will be placed with relatives only if appropriate.
FLDS women sat motionless inside Walther's courtroom as she issued her ruling. Afterward, they huddled with attorneys, listening as the decision was explained, somber but showing no anger.
Inside the City Hall auditorium one block away,
(Excerpt) Read more at sltrib.com ...
In case nobody even noticed, no one in that church has been shown to have committed the slightest crime, sexual or otherwise, under Texas law or US law or any other law. They just aren't popular with a few Nazi state officials. That is quite literally all.
Jumping to conclusions a bit early aren't we? This man has neither been arrested, charged or in any way shown to have directly participated in a sex crime with a minor. Lets hold back on the name calling until he has at least been charged.
There are multiple children under the age of consent that are pregnant.
How do you explain that?
What age do you feel is too young to get married?
You mean stupid stuff like this one?
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district where in the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defense.
Darn, that US Constitution and that pesky 6th Amendment.
Perhaps instead of being gutless and ignorantly flaming me, you should take your own advice. Oh, in case you were wondering, heres the link so you can read up on the basics.
The state simply has no evidence of wrongdoing of any kind. But it doesn't like these people, so it kidnaps their children.
As we said in the Old Neighbourhood, Did your Mama have any children that lived?
If this particular cult was raping little boys instead of little girls,you would be down there with pitchforks and torches, tar and feathers. But I suppose you believe along with the Georgia legislator who said *Well at least rape is NORMAL!
You are of course free to take your daughters and sell them to the old men of any cult you choose. That is guaranteed to you in the Constitution, as you quite rightly point out. Girls are not mentioned in the Constitution, so they do not even count as 3/5 of a person. All they are really are playthings for old men....
Including a 16 year old who has had 4 children. There are consent laws for a reason.
13 year olds having babies does not constitute or indicate sexual abuse to you? OK, I am just appalled.
Well, what exactly does that mean? Are they in juvenile jail, or incarcerated in locked rooms in an institution? Are they free to speak to their attorneys, and to the press?
No one flamed you, this is a civil procedure not a criminal. Maybe you should start out in the correct court.
So other than a lame flame; do you have any evidence to support your position?
I have video of school buses with “First Baptist Church” emblazoned on the side, in which the kids were taken. I also have news sources that state that the children were taken to “First Baptist Church” property.
A semi-intelligent person would no use this sort of material. Consider, if you were raiding a Muslim group, would you use Jewish school buses, and take the children to a Jewish synagogue? No, because that would incite and would give the wrong impression. Perhaps you should spend a few moments and look at the FLDS and what they experienced in the past at the hands of intolerant “Christians”.
So, what do you have to show that the first Baptist Church is totally neutral in this matter?
I feel literally sick. I just told someone else, I better take a break again from FR. Not liking a lot of what I read.
Also, men and women have been having children from puberty on throughout nearly all of human history. Raising the typical age for such things is no doubt prudent, and fits better our usual modern way of life. These people are living in a 19th century way, entirely. It should not be too surprising that their mores are those of the 19th century, if not before.
Nobody is forcing you to live that way, but if they want to, why should you care? Yes they should comply with the laws of their state. The state should also comply with them, and with the provisions of the US constitution. They aren't. There is no evidence these people aren't. Literally none.
Uh, they get to confront the witnesses IN TRIAL. Nobody is on trial yet. Good grief. You don’t even understand the basics.
Young males do not get the females in your typical polygamist sect.
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