UPDATED – UPDATED – UPDATED
SAN ANGELO, Texas (AP) – A Texas appeals court said Thursday that the state had no right to take more than 400 children from a polygamist sect’s ranch, a ruling that could unravel one of the biggest child-custody cases in U.S. history.
The Third Court of Appeals in Austin ruled that the state offered “legally and factually insufficient” grounds for the “extreme” measure of removing all children from the ranch, from babies to teenagers.
The state never provided evidence that the children were in any immediate danger, the only grounds in Texas law for taking children from their parents without court approval, the appeals court said.
The state never provided evidence that teenage girls were being sexually abused, and never alleged any sexual or physical abuse against the other children, the court said.
It was not immediately clear whether the children scattered across foster facilities statewide might soon be reunited with parents.
Full Story Here:
Court: Texas had no right to take polygamists’ kids
I haven’t posted about this at all, I have been waiting to hear what the courts had to say and it looks like they have spoken…
I am not sure how I feel about this, either way, are the polygamists’ wrong?? I don’t feel it’s my position to say, I know they are in violation of civil law but I am not sure about the laws that govern their religious beliefs…
If there were underage girls being wed and impregnated, I DO have a serious issue with that, an underage child should be protected under the laws of the state of Texas, but what the adults do in their private and personal relationships is, in MY opinion, really none of my business…
I am of the opinion that the state of Texas has opened a can of worms on this one…
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Like I said on my blog a while back as long as all this is done by consenting adults I see no harm, no foul. However IMO the authorities have handled this entire thing so badly that they’ll be lucky not to have their asses sued off.
Basti, fully agree… And the state of Texas will pay the price before it’s over I am afraid…
Not that they shouldn’t but that money comes out of my pocket too, we don’t have a state income tax but we have a lot of other taxes that go to pay for things like this…
A lot of wrong things happened there but that doesn’t mean they can take all the children from their parents like they did. Not everybody was involved. Are they planning on going to Catholic Churches and taking all the children and placing them into Foster Care? After all, aren’t some Catholic Priests pedophiles and the parents are taking their kids to that church? What’s the difference?
BobF, BINGO!!
No pun intended…
Considering that over 100 children do not match the DNA of any of the adults there, something is fishy. Where are these children’s parents then? And a couple are Canadians. The Canadians want them back!
This cult (I won’t give it the respectful name of Sect) is a criminal activity. Pedophilia, child abuse, spousal abuse, welfare fraud is all rampant. It was only a matter of time before the authorities investigated them.
I want to see what a higher court says before the State of Texas returns the children.
Katie, I think it’s going to be UGLY, no matter how it turns out…
I am with you on this one. I am not sure how I feel. I know as a mother we love our kids and would never want harm to come their way. I do not know if these mothers really knew what was going on, but I suspect they did. I am sure they were brainwashed and forced into all of this. Heck Fred, they were born into this mess.
Now on the other hand, I think that saving the kids from that torment and hell is saintly. They did those kids a favor. But I do feel for them because they miss their moms, but I bet that they HATE their fathers and the men in that lousy compound!
These 15-or-so girls who have had pregnancies must be separated from this hellish place. Are there any young women there who were married-off after the age of 18 and not to a relative? We don’t know.
I don’t care about the adults, but I pity every child in the place. If polygamy were legal – so what? Rape is still illegal.
Perhaps, with time, these young women (girls) will tell their story. Then we’ll know if the little girls are abused too (and perhaps the little boys).
It is just my opinion, but I believe all “mothers” of adult age know that incest and rape are wrong – no matter what their “prophet” tells them.
Maggie
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