GovernmentShrinker, I have a question for you. What law allows them to not let the men back on the ranch if they leave?
Another question for either one of you, is there a possibility that among the cell phones they picked up, one could have been the one the child used to call the domestic violence hot line?
Wow, I think you’re the only person who’s ever called me “succinct”! Are you sure you know what it means? :-)
Re the current no-return policy, I expect that is connected to the search warrants. I doubt that either the FBI or state has officially completed its search. If they let these men leave and come back, there’s a risk of phony evidence being snuck onto the property and the leaders subsequently claiming it was there all along.
Re the cell phone, I suppose that’s possible, but I doubt it’s the main reason the phones were collected. However, since the phones were inside the compound when the search warrants were issued, they would be subject to thorough search. I rather doubt that was done on the way out, especially since doing it thoroughly would have required strip-searching all the women and children. Presumably it’s being done now — checking all the names and numbers in the contact lists, photos stored, e-mails on Blackberry-type devices, etc.