The Madness of Texas continued today in the FLDS custody case. The Deseret News and St. Angelo Standard-Times reported that, right out of the gate, Texas “child protective” authorities requested authority to collect genetic samples from all of the children and parents in the case. Judge Barbara Walther recessed the court almost immediately as attorneys for many of the 419 children objected to obvious violations of fundamental due process, including the lack of a full adversarial hearing:
But when prosecutors tried to enter into evidence the medical records of three girls — two 17-year-olds and an 18-year-old — the lawyers jumped to their feet and crammed the aisles trying to see the papers. That’s when Walther called the recess.
Earlier, on Good Morning America, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott awkwardly tried to dismiss the lack of a valid search warrant, stating, “It’s irrelevant if the 16-year-old [whose reported call to a shelter was used to rationalize the raid on the Ranch] can and will be found” [sic]. Knowing he was on thin ice, Abbott moved quickly to suggest that the State might bring bigamy charges against the FLDS women who appeared yesterday on Foxnews because they “basically admitted [on Fox] to living in a state of bigamy. . . That also would be a ground for legal prosecution here in the state of Texas.” In other words, this case isn’t about child abuse. It’s about polygamy.
Perhaps the abuse allegations were cooked up to justify the State in breaking into the Ranch so that they could search for evidence of bigamy? Somebody tell Hugh Hefner and his three common-law wives not to visit Texas. Greg Abbott might want a word. Come to think of it, maybe the FLDS would find happier digs in California. The land costs more but — with the Hefner precedent — legal fees and emotional drain might be much lower. Anyway, what are the chances that the home state of San Francisco would really prosecute people for polygamy?
Worth noting are little known but important background facts like the following:
1. Texas State troopers had been planning to raid the FLDS in El Dorado for a long time. Just how long isn’t revealed, but the local sheriff, David Doran — who coincidentally carries a brass-tabbed Bible in his official, county-owned SUV — says he had an “informant” inside the YFZ Ranch for four “frustrating” years during which he “never received any outcry, a complaint [about the FLDS and] there was no evidence of illegal activity nor an offense in plain view.”
Since when do law enforcers suffer frustration over the absence of illegal activity? Does the Bible-totin’ sheriff like a little dust-up now and then? Or was the frustration a product of his inability to run a bad religion — especially one with some kind of (tenuous) Mormon connection — out of town?
2. According to Examiner.com, Doran also made occasional visits to “the compound” [why is it always "the compound," not "the ranch"?] but “saw nothing to warrant a criminal investigation”.
3. The community of El Dorado appears to have been out for FLDS blood, figuratively speaking, almost from the moment they walked into town, some time in 2004. The local newspaper, The El Dorado Success, has since that time engaged in a nearly constant stream of sensationalistic reportage , complete with highly intrusive aerial photos of the construction process.
This excerpt from a July 16, 2005 Rocky Mountain News report offers insights into local attitudes and what may have motivated the raid — including water, schools, and political power — on the FLDS ranch:
That the polygamists would come to Schleicher County, with its 1,699 registered voters, has caused no little amount of concern among the locals.
Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish church is on County Road 300 that leads to the YFZ Ranch. Deacon Victor Belman rides his bike on the road around the YFZ Ranch, giving polite, West Texas waves to the men in white pickup trucks and vans with Utah and Arizona plates.
“They never wave back,” he said. “It’s the fear of the unknown that’s bothering everyone. I pray for them. I know they are hard workers. But what is their focus?”
Others in Eldorado have practical concerns – water, schools and political power.
At Pat’s Hair Salon, customer Gloria Kent said water was a big issue because the community relies on wells drilled as deep as 400 feet or more into the caliche limestone.
“Wells here run out of water all the time,” said Kent. “If that religious group gets twice as big as the town, they could drain our water supply. That’s pretty scary.”
So, there you have it. To pinch a line from Lawrence of Arabia, “The well is everything. The FLDS may not drink from our wells or drill their own. They knew that.” And the Texans a “little people, a silly people – greedy, barbarous, and cruel.”
In the next chair, Stacy Juereck said she was worried about the schools because Jeffs and the sect took control of the schools on the Arizona-Utah border and drained their resources.
“We love our schools. They’re one of the best things about this community,” she said. “I just hope it doesn’t end up like the other place.”
Others fret that if the polygamists end up numbering in the thousands, they could overpower the locals and run Schleicher County politically.
Justice of the Peace Jimmy Doyle, J.D. Doyle’s father, verifies new voter registrations and said no one from the YFZ Ranch has signed up to vote – yet.
Justice Doyle is one of the few townspeople ever allowed into one of the buildings at the YFZ ranch.
. . .
Asked about the risks to Eldorado, Justice Doyle said he takes heart in the vigilance of the sect’s neighbors and the local pilots.
“This place is well-enough watched so that if something happened, we’d know about it,” he said.
Indeed. Anyone wonder why the FLDS might have felt the need to protect themselves? With neighbors like these El Doradans, geez!
For the record, I watched yesterday’s Foxnews news interviews of a few of the FLDS mothers. Yes, I found them less than convincing on some points. But I saw nothing that would justify Texas in inflicting this kind of pain on hundreds of otherwise law-abiding parents and children. For good reason, they are afraid that their words will be used against them by government and media.
Logically, there was some hedging on how many wives the husband of each mother has. That should be no one’s business as long as the marriages are voluntary and timely. One lady seemed evasive about how old she was when she first married. But under the circumstances, having been so thoroughly violated by the State of Texas, it’s easy to understand some timidity or evasion in responding to such questions on national television.
It’s also painfully clear that these ladies are not “sophisticated” in the way that most broadcast babes think themselves. They’re obviously not style-conscious. Their clothing is far more modest than what is common in today’s “outside” world. But they appear committed to their way of life and clearly love their children far more than any foster parent, no matter how kind-hearted, ever could.
What makes a home more than anything else is the bond of affection that exists only between parents and their children. It’s impossible to imagine those kids finding a home life in the notoriously incompetent, abusive Texas foster care system anywhere near as good as they had it at home on the YFZ Ranch.
Meanwhile, Bob Lonsberry scores highly on his blog, panning Texas-sized hypocrisy by the State and the major media:
Authorities have said that three of the 416 people under 18 taken from the ranch were pregnant. Three of the teen-age girls were carrying babies. Rounding down to 400, and dividing by two – to factor out the boys – that would leave 200 girls. Half of those – 100 – would be over the age of 9. Sixty-six would be teen-agers, presuming random distribution of ages.
That works out to a teen-pregnancy rate of 45 per 1,000. That’s how teen pregnancy is tracked, number of cases per 1,000 girls.
Presuming that teen pregnancy is an indicator of teen sexual activity – with an age peer or as the victim of an older man – that ratio of 45 per 1,000 would generally track the incidence of teen sexual activity.
Judging by its actions in this case, the state of Texas is particularly intolerant of teen sexual activity. But judging by statewide statistics, that doesn’t seem to be the case.
Texas is, as a matter of fact, typically the second- to fifth-worst state in the union for teen pregnancy. The non-Hispanic white rate is 60 per 1,000, the black rate is 130 per 1,000 and the Hispanic rate is 145 per 1,000.
My two bits: Looks like Texas catholics and protestants could learn a thing or two from the FLDS about how to reduce teen pregnancy. Lonsberry continues:
And, to repeat, the rate on the polygamous ranch seems to be 45 per 1,000. That is some 20 percent lower than the rate for other Texas girls in the polygamous girls’ demographic cohort and more than 60 percent lower than among Hispanic girls in Texas. . .
But no matter how noxious or odd these people may seem, they are Americans who are protected by our Constitution and system of laws. In Texas, it seems clear that they are not being afforded those protections. In Texas, it seems clear that the rush to judgment – by the law and the media – is railroading a large number of people into the worst of possible situations.
This has never happened before in our country’s history, and there’s a reason for that. Always before, basic rules of due process have prevented a seizure of this magnitude. This process needs to be brought into line. Rule of law and common sense needs to be restored.
If there are charges to be brought, bring them. If there are people to be arrested, arrest them. But the wholesale taking of a community’s children, without a single specific charge of abuse or neglect, is unthinkable. Every parent has been declared incompetent, but not a single parent has been charged.
This is not the American way.
The law has broken down and the watchdog press has become a cheerleader for excess and condemnation.
And little children and mothers cry.
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The more I hear about the raid on the FLDS the more upset I get:
First, a series of cell phone calls are supposedly made by a teenaged girl inside the FLDS ranch. Police apparently do not make any attempt to trace the origin of the call or even verify the cell phone account (both actions being easilly possible using cell phone call detail records). At least the police have not indicated that they made any such attempts to verify the calls.
The girl references a holiday which FLDS adherents do not observe (Easter).
The girl identifies as the father of her child a man who’s name just happens to be in the public record as an FLDS member because of a prior child sex abuse conviction. However, this man does not reside in the Texas FLDS ranch , has never visited the Texas FLDS ranch and can quite convincingly verify his whereabouts for the last 18 months via his parole officer. Apparently the Texas authorities never bother to research the girl’s claim as to the identity of the father of her children, and in fact when they do finally talk to the man in Utah, a week after the raid, they plainly do not have enough evidence to even hold him for questioning.
And oh yes: 14 days after the raid, the girl who made the phone calls has not been found.
On the basis of this “evidence”, the Texas authorities are able to obtain search warrants which are not simply limited to entering the FLDS property for the purpose of identifying and interviewing the girl who made the phone calls, but in fact allow them to search the entire property, confiscate all kinds of documentation, and remove all children from the property regardless of whether they show any obvious external signs of abuse, when virtually all of those children indicate repeatedly that they wish to remain with their parents.
Something about this stinks.
Abuse of children is a very serious issue. Abuse of the U.S. Constitution is even more serious.
ksl just reported that the police have interviewed a woman who might be the one who called and said she was a 16 year old and started the whole thing. She is in Arizona. Flora Jessop, the former polygamous says that this woman called her several times and she was starting to get suspicious about it. Can you imagine? I think we were all feeling like something was rotten in Denmark – I surely hope texas has a lot of money.
The whole thing smells. And many media people are asking questions — about Texas’ motives. They are satisfied at this point that there is no justification for this pogrom. The situation is going to cost Texas big time, and the sooner they get those kids back to their mothers, the better for them and for the children.