Texas CPS plays dirty, asks for “mulligan” in FLDS case

It is truly nauseating.

Texas law????? What laws does Texas follow?

Here freedom is curtailed because Raymond Jessop has been indicted. Remeber the man she was married to at 14?
This same thing would happen with any other minor who was in this situation in Texas. They wouldnt be allowed where the perpertraitor was residing.

MV,

The temple was entered and the records were seized under a search warrant. There is no Texas privilege for religious documents, and in cases of child abuse, no penitent-priest privilege either. In other words, if you confess that to your priest that you had a ’spiritual’ marriage with a 15 year old and consummated that marriage in violation of state law, the priest can be compelled to testify against you.

Before Kurt jumps in on the search, the validity of the warrant will be addressed in the courts and the appeals, but for now, the records will get in until (and if) the warrant is tossed.

Kurt,

Me? Play word games?

It really depends on what the defendant or the official do.

There is ‘Tampering with or Fabricating Physical Evidence’ (Misdemeanor A to Felony 2nd), but that’s about it.

There is also ‘Interfering with Public Duties’ (Misdemeanor B), but that is for hindering, impeding or interfering with police (such as in an investigation).

There are several other laws on tampering with witnesses, coercion, and the like, but they are primarily focused on the defendants actions.

Most of the time, the state can find a way to get at a defendant…

Joey,

To address your errors, 1) the elements of the Bigamy statute haven’t changed in 35 years; 2) there is no record of a marriage license being issued to them in Schleicher County, where the marriage took place, nor of the required affidavit for parental consent; 3) the marriage, whether consummated or not, was and is a felony (on both Raymond and Theresa’s part, and the part of the minister that conducted the ceremony); 4) the point is moot - she is still Theresa’s AAL; 5) who cares; 6) I doubt it, but given your lack of understanding of both due process and the law, it doesn’t surprise me to see that comment from you; and 7) yes it will, and the child abusers and bigamists will be shipped off to Huntsville.

kbp,

For the purposes of the Family Code and Civil law, a person is a minor until they are 18. For the purpose of the Penal Code and Criminal law, they are an adult at 17. A minor aged 15 or 16 may be certified to stand trial as an adult.

Theresa could be charged with Delinquent Conduct (Bigamy) - but since she’s about to age out of the juvenile system, the case would probably be transferred to District Court for trial as an adult.

It is my understanding that the Sexual Assault and Bigamy indictments do not involve Theresa.

That does not prevent such charges from issuing in the future.

Uh they just revised the numbers. They didn’t have 440 kids, they had 439. Really is it that hard to count kids? I mean count the kids as they got off the freaking bus and add them together.

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,700256619,00.html

txmom, the number has been 439 for quite sometime.

Joey,

It is pointless to argue with you. You clearly don’t understand the law, you make baseless accusations or innuendos against the Rangers, and it is very clear that you have no conception of what the Constitution actually means.

Let me know if you figure it out - I’m tired of explaining the basics to you over and over again.

Abby so…………what. If I type up a piece of paper that has my name and that of a girl in my neighborhood, that says man and wife. Does that mean I’ve committed a felony? No you say? Why because there’s no religion involved???!!! So now it’s the religion that makes the difference? Can we just get a little bit scientific here and figure out the formula for what constitutes “felony marriage” in Texas? Because I just don’t get it. I think it’s all nuts. If it’s not an official court certified document, then what business does the government have declaring my piece of typed up bogus marriage license evidence of a felony??!!

I know TBM gets his jollies over thinking about all the FLDS going to jail, but quite frankly, I’d rather my tax dollars & law enforcement time (paid for by said tax dollars) be going to convicting & imprisoning murderers & drug dealers than someone who committed bigamy when NO ONE is complaining about it (well, other than TBM, CPS, Gladys Kravitz, & those who have $$ to gain from books & speaking fees, that is).

Actually, it was more along the motto of the Rangers - ‘there’s no stopping a man in the right who keeps on coming’…

Meaning that if you are going to abuse children, we’re going to keep coming after you.

TBM likes to rely on the words found in the bigamy statute. On one level this is a correct way of approaching a law. But it sometimes–as in this case–misses the intent and the public policy of and behind the law.

Lay people will often say some un-lawyer like thing such as “he got off on a technicality.” TBM, on the other hand, holds to those technicalities–at least as far as the FLDS goes–and he wants the FLDS to be held to the elements of bigamy as contained in the Texas statue (those technicalities).

And, of course, the reason that the law has technicalities (elements) is that we want to be very specific about what constitutes a violation of law. That’s why most laws are elemental. We don’t want to arrest people for vague generalities.

Now, let’s also understand that behind and above our laws are public policy decisions that have led to the drafting of our laws by legislators who all have some religious and/or philosophical views of right and wrong. These views get written into our laws.

If the FLDS were the majority in the legislature, the laws would, I imagine, be somewhat different relative to bigamy.

I’ve reviewed the present Texas statute on the subject, and it really needs to be revised in light of our present age. The way it’s written can lead to charges, not only against the FLDS, but also against Muslims. It is simply not well crafted.

The intent of the legislature in writing the statute seems pretty clear–to avoid people from essentially defrauding others with multiple marriage contracts.

That’s not what the FLDS and Muslims do. Their marriages aren’t hidden from one another in their communities. The males and females simply choose to contract in a form of marriage that is different than what many mainstream Chrisitians practice.

People should have the right to enter into marriage or cohabitation contracts that they believe are correct. And, marriage, while being memorialized in our secular laws, is still essentially a religious practice, not a secular one, and it should remain so.

Why would we want government types snooping in our private lives and in our bedrooms? What right does some Baptist (not an intentional slam against Baptists, btw) have to tell some Fundamentalist Mormon how the latter should live and who he or she should marry?

Now, the retort from those with the souls of newly minted Second Lieutenants–such as TBM–will be that if we don’t like the law, change the law.

Okay. That will happen, howevever, for now, a great injustice is being done as the majority plays the tyrant over the minority and forces the minority to accept the religious laws of the majority dressed in secular clothes. Remove those clothes and you’ll see the religious views.

To repeat: It is not right for people of one religion to dictate their religious views and laws to people of another religion. And, just trying to hide those religious views and laws with secular terminology is dishonest.

TBM get our your meds. Statutory rape is a legal fiction. No actual force is involved. The real abusers are Angie Voss and her ilk and noone has even started going after them.

Bob, it’s nice to talk about religion and its influence in the so called institution of marriage, but religious arguments won’t fly with appeals courts, because most of them do not view marriage as a religious institution any more. That’s why I’ve been stressing that the elemental definition of marriage needs to be further broken down into finer elements until its definition is unambiguous, so that those in borderline marriages (polygamous folks, polyamorous folks, “baby daddies,” adulterers, and those indulging in odd fetish lifestyles) cannot be targeted arbitrarily by zealous law enforcement. Of course I do so speciously (admittedly), because ultimately, as Texans realized, it most likely comes down to a declaration of faith (”I am married because I believe I am”), which leads to the “purporting” element of their definition of common law marriage, which is a manifestation or profession of one’s faith (in marriage) if you will. And I believe if broken down this way, it unequivocally infringes on our basic freedoms of speech and thought.
My suggestion is Texas not go there, but remove the common law bigamy statutes as it’s defined, and stick to statutes based on tangible evidence, namely the marriage contract between two people and the government. That way there’s no room for interpretation by LE/DA/AG, and consequently no danger of abuse.

Right. Here’s what I want to know. Since Judge Barbara in Waltherland so quickly gave Charles Childress a Mulligan, will she do the same for Teresa Jeffs and the FLDS?

Teresa has not done one thing wrong. Think about what you’re saying. You should not imply that she is considered culpable or responsible for anything. She is considered a victim. I hope she is not reading this because that kind of comment can be very destructive to the psyche of a young lady in Teresa’s position.

Since I take whatever a felon says with a grain of salt, I’ll pass on believing anything that you say. Especially after having read all the garbage you posted on your blog, 95% of which is demonstratively false.

Another brave soul in hiding.

Don’t folks in Texas have the rocks to step up to the plate?

Tx, you are mistaking me for Texas CPS, and their record is closer to 99%

Gross violations of Constitutional Rights piss me off royally.

I have a son in the 1st Cavalry who might die protecting peoples rights to them, and to watch some hag limping into Court shredding that document every time her gaval hits the desk doesn’t sit well.

Neither does carting off babies and toddlers with tanks and snipers glaring down on them because they happen to be Mormon and they are worth plenty of dollars to baby selling lawyers.

oh, ok. Hope you are taking all of your prescribed medications- you sound like a heart risk.

I’m still waiting on an answer as to HOW that poor Sarah was declared a child in the Search Warrant of April 3.

lol I just love it when the ‘brainwashed,’ and uneducated can produce more beautiful, well-adjusted, happier, and SMARTER children than our public schools and non-FLDS parents who subject their children to the ‘normal’ things of the world - porn, sexually explicit television, raunchy music that pounds 24/7 in some homes, drug abuse, alcohol abuse, gangs, etc., etc., etc.

If I were a parent of small children, I would be trying to figure out how to get my children IN to the FLDS society.

BTW - last night I was ’subjected’ to one of the vilest exhibits of child sexual abuse I’ve ever seen - it was played out on national TV and CPS never lifted a finger to remove this child from being sexually exploited.

I’ve never watched Two and a Half Men, but last night the home I was in, had it playing in another room…I cannot believe how raunchy that show is and full of sexual innuendo and sexual references - and there is a CHILD not only subjected to HEARING that crap, but participating in it.

How come CPS allows that? How come any parent in their right mind allows that?

This boy needs to be rescued. Oh…wait… the parents are not raising him with any decent morals or values, and obviously don’t belong to any religious group outside of the mainstream denominations, so it’s okay.

Can anyone say ‘double standards?’

K–Yeah, I never liked the expression either, and just used it out of mental laziness and an attempt to be understood. I agree with your changes.

Thanks Bob. I otherwise thought your comment was brilliant. I’m no good with words, but you easily put to words what’s been bugging me for a long time:

Substituting Law for Justice.

Sounds like a good title for a book eh? You’re right about tyrants too. Chances are, everything Hitler and Stalin did was probably “legal.”

Tho he does indeed give me the blues, knowing that when they come to destroy my religion and kidnap my kids they will have rabid cheerleaders, I suggest a new handle for him. Waco Cheerleader perhaps and his tagline can be ‘burn baby burn’.