Rod Parker, a Salt Lake City attorney acting as a spokesman for the FLDS, called on Texas authorities to "lay down arms."

"End this nightmare and end this torture that they're putting these families through," he said Thursday. "These children have suffered enough at the hands of the state of Texas. It is time for the children to come home."

Reunion

Any reunion depends on an order signed by either Judge Walther or the 3rd Court of Appeals. Walther could sign an order — with conditions — as early as today, clearing the way for parents to retrieve their children from foster-care facilities.

Texas CPS officials urged the Supreme Court to keep the children in foster care, saying they feared that FLDS families would flee the state. The high court said restrictions could be placed on the families, including preventing them from leaving the state and removing alleged perpetrators from a home.

The mothers are not opposed to any restrictions, as long as they are treated like individuals and not a group, said Doug Alexander, a lawyer for some of the FLDS women.

"One of the clear messages from the court is that CPS has got to stop treating these people as a crowd," he said. "The clear message from the court is it's time for these kids to go home now."

Texas authorities were already preparing for reunification.

"We will continue to prepare for the prompt and orderly reunification of these children with their families. We will also work with the district court to ensure the safety of the children and that all of our actions conform with the decision of the Texas Supreme Court," Meisner said.

D'Ann Johnson, a lawyer for Texas RioGrande Legal Aid, which represents 38 FLDS mothers in the case, said the families are anxious to see their children.

"One of the fathers I talked to just started sobbing and saying how grateful he was," she said of the ruling. "They want to know when they can get their children."

Asked what a reasonable time frame would be to return children to mothers, Johnson said, "Yesterday."

Other families were trying to figure out what the ruling means for them. The case before the court technically only affects about 139 children of 41 FLDS mothers, but it can be applied to all of the children. Attorneys for other parents may also file their own papers with the court to have their children returned.

A lawyer for Joseph and Lori Jessop, who have three children in state custody, was trying to figure out if they could go back to the YFZ Ranch. The Jessops struck a deal with CPS that allowed their children to be returned to them, as long as they remained in the San Antonio area.