Posted on 05/22/2008 10:46:31 AM PDT by ElkGroveDan
SAN ANGELO, Texas - A state appellate court has ruled that child welfare officials had no right to seize more than 400 children living at a polygamist sect's ranch.
The Third Court of Appeals in Austin ruled that the grounds for removing the children were "legally and factually insufficient" under Texas law. They did not immediately order the return of the children.
Child welfare officials removed the children on the grounds that the sect pushed underage girls into marriage and sex and trained boys to become future perpetrators.
The appellate court ruled the chaotic hearing held last month did not demonstrate the children were in any immediate danger, the only measure of taking children from their homes without court proceedings.
AMEN!!
But...but...but...
What went wrong? The FLDS are the bad guys right? Old men having sex with young girls is disgusting, right?
They dress strange and refuse to answer questions.
How could a conservative judge have ever gotten to the bench?
What about the older men in the group sticking their penises where they were not wanted?
And now a Texas appellate court has looked at the evidence and found it wanting.
Should we have left the children in that situation while more investigations where going on?
Yes. It's called due process. You can't take people's kids if you don't have actual evidence of a crime.
What if this wasn't a 'religious' compound, what if it was just some creep who lives down the street? Would we be so concerned about his right(sic) to marry a 14 year old then?
Why is it that everyone was so impatient to "get those kids out of there" but not so impatient to rescue pregnant teenagers of the same age out of public housing in Houston or Dallas?
I could see the rush to "rescue" the kids if the standard procedure for CPS was to "rescue" any teenage mother in Texas.
That they don't, yet executed a mass raid on the FLDS ranch, speaks volumes about their motivation.
And if they're that motivated to assault a bunch of religious nuts and steal their kids, what happens when they decide that you're a religious nut?
Would you rather them not?
Well this will surely pay for a new and bigger church on that site !..........:o)
Exactly. After all, Article 3 Section 12 of the Consitution says that the rest of the Constitution doesn't apply if the authorities believe something is going on.
Before they are deprogrammed and want a normal existence.
Normal. Right. If it wasn't for the polygamy these folks would be paragons. Teaching kids love of G-d, the value of hard work and community. How terrible.
Heck, if it weren't for the "many wives" thing, *I'd* consider living this lifestyle.
But you're right. We need to get these kids normal. Let's teach them that it's OK to be gay and introduce them to TV and video games. It's not good for a kid to get too much sunlight or to work too hard. Let's see how well those girls do with Britney Spears as their new role model. That would be *much* better than the sick value set they have now.
Are the fathers irresponsible lazy bastards who use the State to support their offspring? Yup. Should all of the men who took an underage "wife" go to jail? You bet 'cha.
Don't bother, they will not consider it. I have been posting that the entire thing stinks since the morning after the "raid" and have been called everything in the book. As I review the names in these posts there are several that are seemingly "absent." Not surprisingly so as their entire justification to excuse LEO's exceeding their authority was the classic "for the children" liberalist krap.
This will be appealed to the Texas Supreme Court. Perhaps there will also be an appeal to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals
The court system will work this out. I’m not sure what the Criminal Court of Appeals would have to do with a Civil case and so far nothing has been done regarding criminal indictments/charges/arrest/etc.
There will be a way found to deal with forced marriages, child sex, etc. Lets see how the appeals work out. The CPS may have to reign in the net a bit.
And we all know that the authorities never make stuff up to get warrants.
>>Yes, all pregnant girls under 18 in greater society who are pregnant due to their parents forcing them into relationships with much older men should be taken away from their parents immediately. Yes.>>
Another assumption that this situation is kids with adults. Knock it off. Wait for the evidence, get your mind out of the gutter.
Touche.....:-)
Have you ever had those people at your door demanding to have a confidential conversation with your 5 year old child? Demanding to conduct an inspection of your premises? I have and I can tell you that I do not trust anything they do. They take the word of any anonymous caller over the word of the parents in any case.
Exactly. Paging Mike Nifong...
What evidence do you have that that is happening? It continually amazes me here that the very same people who deride the main stream media for the inaccuracies and bias of their reporting immediately swallow their stories hook, line, and sinker when they hear of a story like this.
I think the court is naive. If female children who have reached puberty are in danger, then I think that is sufficient evidence that the rest of the children are in danger as well.
Consider which appeals court heard it. It's in Austin where the motto is "Keep Austin Weird"! The state of Texas will appeal this ruling, and I bet they will seek an injunction to prevent the children from being sent back to their parents. Don't be surprised if the Texas Supreme Court overrules this decision.
Due process does seem to be a reasonable method.
It was quite different to see jack booted thugs surrounding the area with automatic weapons, sniper positions, armored vehicles and such.
Man, the gov. is outta hand.
I’ll trust the Texas Rangers any day over a group whose leaders have a history of convictions for rape, accomplice to rape, sexual contact with a minor, and incest (found guilty in a court of law, not just in the media)
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