Five judges in five courtrooms are simultaneously hearing case after case in a schedule that's set to last a grueling three weeks because of a statutory deadline. Parents are being pushed to sign family service plans that include allegations about child abuse within the polygamous sect and what mothers and fathers must do to ensure their children are safe and can be reunited with them.

The FLDS deny the abuse and argue that Texas authorities have stacked the deck against them.

"It's an outrageous day," FLDS member Willie Jessop said as he left the courthouse Monday. "There has been many cases made today, and what do they have in common? That no parent knows what they've done wrong, all of them have been accused of being bad and there's no cure."

The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services maintains that its ultimate goal is reunification of the 450-plus children with their parents by April 13, 2009.

Monday and Tuesday's hearings are the first step toward that goal and the judicial approval of family service plans puts guidelines in place.

"We are very hopeful reunification can happen," said Marleigh Meisner, a spokeswoman for Texas Child Protective Services.

Part of the thrust, she added, is to educate the women about Texas law and the definitions of abuse and neglect.

"This knowledge will be power for them," she told the Deseret News.

The first day of hearings got off to a rough start Monday with many attorneys being needed in several courtrooms at once and parents running late because of long lines at security. At times, judges struggled to keep the attorneys on task.

Despite warnings from judges to focus on the custody fights and not the previous rulings that led to the seizures, some lawyers pushed those issues.

"I believe there's a fundamental problem with due process rights," said Nancy DeLong, a lawyer for Carlene Jessop, a mother of four children in state custody. "My understanding of the law in the U.S. and Texas is we have a right to due process."

Jessop was only served with papers telling her to show up to court as she sat down for her own hearing.

"She's here today," Judge Jay Weatherby said.

"She's here because she wants her children back," DeLong replied.

On the dockets, each child had legal representation as well as the mothers noted by name. Noticeably absent were the fathers. The dockets either did not list the father or, if it did, some had no attorneys.

Family plans

Lawyers for the FLDS parents attacked the family service plans for their lack of specifics, both in the allegations of abuse and the proposed resolutions — arguing that the plans set the parents up to fail.