Tears, jeers abound at parents rally

The assistant attorney general in the case has said laws and procedures in Bierly's case were followed to the letter. Caseworkers and supervisors for DCFS say there was sufficient cause to remove the son in the beginning but the situation escalated quickly and possibly unnecessarily into an ordeal for the family and the agencies involved.

Kirk Torgensen, chief deputy in the state Attorney General's Office, said the system, like any other human endeavor, can make mistakes. "I tell people all the time that there can be disagreements about what's best for a child. But at least 98 percent of the time, the system works. And in the two years I've been looking into cases, I have yet to see one where removal wasn't in the best interest of the child."

Other child protection workers say parents who were endangering their children are jumping on the Jensen bandwagon and trying to demonize the only true child advocates the state has.

Setting aside a sign that read, "If the state would have taken Elizabeth Smart it would have been legal," her two grown sons and her daughter's father standing nearby, Bierly told the crowd, sometimes tearfully, that people in the system have admitted that mistakes were made in her case but no one will do anything to rectify the situation and return her children, even though they have the power to do so.

Daniel Newby of the new parents' rights group Accountability Utah said Bierly's case is one of the many "shocking indicators that we have stopped watching the shop for too long." Newby called on Utahns, particularly Utah fathers, to throw out the governor, legislators and every bureaucrat who refuses to stand up and fight for families.

Terry Trease, also of Accountability Utah, said the rallies and movement's momentum will continue to grow because "the government absolutely won't listen to the people."

The loudest endorsement from the crowd came when the final speaker, invoking the New Testament, suggested government operatives who would unjustifiably remove children "tie a millstone around their necks, then cast yourself into the sea."

Moving inside, the group attempted to confront Attorney General Mark Shurtleff but were ultimately met with an assistant who attempted to field accusations. Gov. Mike Leavitt's assistant Rich McKeown did the same a few minutes later.

---

E-mail: jthalman@desnews.com