the parents will all get their day in court if they want it. This group is well lawyered up. Sadly there are many single cases where a mom or dad doesn't have all this media attention and financial support.
If a house is on fire...you need to get people to safety before trying to figure out who started it.
That statement is absolutely correct......but only as far as it goes.
You should have added the caveat that the agency involved should have the good sense to determine whether the house is on fire or it is a false alarm.
Lets say that I pass by your house. The sun is reflecting in the windows so that it appears to be on fire. I call 911.
The fire department screams on the scene, chops a hole in your roof, pumps in 10,000 gallons of water, breaks down all doors, turns everything upside down and inside out looking for a “victim”, declares the house to be unsafe (of course it is after they ruined it) thus making it against the law for you to return to it..................and six months later tells you that your house was not on fire and you can go back in the house.
This is essentially what the state of TX is doing to these families. By the time all of this brute force is over, these families will be emotionally wrecked just as the house was in my fictional illustration.
Ah, but you say they already had problems.
They did not know they had problems. They were happy in their own way. Who are we to say “You are not happy and I am going to change that!”?
If they are going to prosecute for polygamy, so be it. But the children should not be separated from their mothers, put in foster homes, persons held in detention without trial, etc.
All on the basis of a crank phone call.