Legislators getting an earful over case

No matter how the legal minutiae are disentangled in the next few days, the Jensen case is already creating legislative ripples.

Legislators are getting calls to make sure nothing like this ever happens again. Parents' rights advocates are rallying to stop what they call state nannying and bullying of families once and for all.

Rep. Mike Thompson, R-Orem, who has authored several bills dealing with parents' rights issues, said Tuesday he has talked to the Jensen family and plans to draft legislation that will strengthen parents' rights to do what they believe is best for their children.

"There is a plan for parents to have stewardship over their children, and that plan is not just going along with what the state says no matter what," Thompson said.

His bill to allow families to choose mental health therapists for children, not just those recommended by the state, was approved by the Legislature this past session.

"Maybe I'll have to try for the same thing on medical problems as well," Thompson said. "Does it have to be only doctors, who often have a conflict of interest with the state anyway, who tell you what you have to do?"

House Speaker Marty Stephens, R-Farr West, said Tuesday that he has been getting calls and e-mails from citizens and legislators upset over the Jensen matter. But the Legislature is not in session now — and may not be in session again until early January — and so "there is really not a lot we can do at this point. We can yell some, but this is in the courts, in the AG's office and in the governor's office and DCFS (the Division of Child and Family Services)."

However, Stephens, who is considering a run for governor himself next year, said the 2004 Legislature in January will likely see some bills aimed at the Jensen matter.

Saying the ideas are not original to him, Stephens said several areas will likely be addressed, such as trial by jury for similar high-conflict custody cases.

Perhaps adult court, not juvenile court, should determine cases where the state takes custody, he said. Hearings then could be conducted in public, not in the closed juvenile court system.

"Some are saying that in these medical situations there should be different procedures, more parental involvement in protecting the family's rights," he said.

Stephens said he has had private discussions with people in the AG's office and the governor's office where he has been told "there are other issues that state officials know of" concerning the Jensen situation "that have not been made public. And if they are, I'm told, then people will understand why what has happened" has occurred.