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Texas judge walks off bench; when FLDS children will return is unknown

Is there any chance this judge could be dismissed for her lack of professionalism?

Judge Walther has gone over the top. She is demanding actions without even having a hearing. She seems to miss the fact that the Texas Supreme Court ruled that she had not provided proper rulings.
What in the world is this judge doing. She overthrows a deal brokered by CPS. She seems to be acting as prosecutor. This is not the proper role of a judge.

Judge Barbara Walther is not going to be pushed around by any Austin appeals court or the Texas Supreme Court --- she RULES in West Texas

She's going on "vacation" and the kids can wait till she gets back

This judge is just embarrassing herself. Very child like to leave the parties up in the air on such a important hearing. You don't make a vague ruling and then run away before clarification.

Good up to date reporting. Hurray for the judge. She has ample leeway to protect those horribly indoctrinated children.

Don't be fooled by Judge Walther she definately knows what she is doing!!Just because you don't agree with her doesn't mean that she is in the wrong{she does know law}

SCOT left loopholes for Walthers and CPS to do anything they please short of keeping the children--even TPAs. SCOT is on the Permenant Committee for DPFS...figures...They had to follow the law but still left the door open for CPS to still condemn these parents. I hope Walthers looses her seat by election or by force... They are using these children as dangling carrots to get the parents to do a song and a dance to get them back. CPS was wrong and they must give them back with no strings attached..no classes or psych evals. There was no abuse other than MAYBE 5 girls that they could at least dig up--and trust me CPS can make nothing look like something so that is impressive of the FLDS...a few dirty dishes=neglect to CPS.. Now CPS needs someone to TPR to them ASAP and remove all the foster children due to abuse and neglect. What CPS did was abuse and they would remove someone elses child in a heartbeat if they did what CPS did...like that toddler strapped in a stroller for 24+ hrs with no food, water, and a clean diaper. They would not tolerate that out of anyone else.

Who is going to sign the agreement for all the disputed minors? When do they get released?

One parent should not sign for one child (say a teenager about 17 & 1/2). Then appeal that decision.

Also, I seem to remember that if the lower Court doesn't comply - the parties can petition the Appellate Court to force the judge to sign. (Can't the Appellate hold the lower court in contempt?)

"She has ample leeway to protect those horribly indoctrinated children."

Actually, she has no leeway at all.

She could have vacated her previous order and saved face, but if she does not the higher court will vacate her order for her.

I'm wondering if she's on the brink of some sort of breakdown. I would not expect that sane, well-grounded judges would simply walk out like that. It reflects poorly on Texas, the justice system, and the legal profession, as if she were in some sort of reality tv show and not a court of law.

Did she really go on vacation? Seriously? If so That ought to be enough time for the DNA results. Children ought not to returned to people who are not their parents without written permission from their parents to have custody. I don't get CNN so I don't know how true it is that not all the kids are going back. I'm assuming that the underage mothers are not. The reports so far are not very informative.

I agree, Ken. The judge knows full well that even with legal stipulations to keep the kids where they can be monitored it is likely they will disappear as soon as they are returned. At least if she puts as many restrictions as she is legally allowed on them there is some chance for follow-up. She is protecting those kids to the best of her ability, good for her.

While this custody battle plays out with CPS and parents known and ...unknown. There is also a criminal investigation going on against particular individuals at the FLDS Ranch.

"...A criminal investigation into abuses at the FLDS property has been quietly progressing..."

So...there are reasons not to let children return to parents who are being investigated for sex with underage children of both sexes. Makes sense as the Judge has the total picture. We and the Press do not. The local paper had published an order of the court stating how many, more than half? of the children had one or two unknown parents or unknown names.

Soon you shall all see that "Protecting the Children" is the last thing this judge has in mind. The children have been abused by CPS since the day they were taken, and evidence is coming forth soon to show America that CPS needs to go down, along with their bought off judge.

Shortly the first damage claims and lawsuits will begin to be filed in Federal Court. The actions of the CPS and indeed this judge will be used by a host of different attorneys to claim perhaps hundreds of millions of dollars in "reparations"...the FLDS positions are indeed individualized (ie children suffering various different problems, adult women being misclassified as underage, mothers denied access to sick children, several children requiring hospitalization for illness/sickness caused by the removal and living conditions, adult monagamus males being deprived of their children, all exacerbated by the DPS breaching its own regulations (children scattered across state, siblings separated, etc...), and of course both the Supreme Ct and Appeals Ct validating that all was outside of DPS' charter and authority...these suits will likely total into the hundreds of millions of dollars (and of course all will ask for attorneys fees as well); because of the different types of individuals the best might be 4-5 different class actions (if not hundreds of individual suits). This will play out over several years. This alone is what attracted hundreds of attorneys to volunteer at the early stages...

"More Than We Know", if Judge Walther knows more than we do about any ongoing criminal investigation, there is no standard by which she should not be removed from the bench. Judges do *not* participate in the investigation and prosecution of crimes, and do not have an "inside track" on the confidential goings-on at the DA's office.

Judge Walther needs to re-read the Supreme Court's decision unless she wants to be bench-slapped with a writ of mandamus. She has authority to impose additional restrictions, but she does *not* have authority to link those restrictions with the return of the children to their families in some kind of tit-for-tat fashion.

The kiddies go home to their mothers first. THEN Judge Walther can impose whatever orders she feels like regarding travel restrictions, protective orders, confiscation of cell phones, prohibitions on the reading of the Book of Mormon, or whatever else she thinks she can get away with.

Judge Walther is right. The Texas Supreme Court explicitly said she can impose conditions on the FLDS parents who remove their children from state custody. The court focused on not having the children taken out of the jurisdiction of Texas courts particularly.

I think she should finalize her order and leave it to the discretion of individual parents whether they choose to agree with the conditions.

"Children ought not to returned to people who are not their parents without written permission from their parents to have custody."

The appellate court said the children were improperly taken and are to be returned. They were taken without regard to who's child was who's and should be returned in that same fashion. Load them on the Baptist buses and return them to their homes. Period.

Walther has egg all over her face. She is only trying to get this over without becoming the dumbest judge ever to make decisions from the bench...too late.

The judge sounds to be doing typical judge/lawyer games; however . . . as a parent and not a lawyer, I know that children, especially infants and toddlers, and the beautiful mother-infant oneness bond with very young infants, can get extremely messed with by month- or two-month (and even shorter) separations. A weekend for the judge is years or decades for those infants and those bonds. Get those children back NOW; there is risk of permanent, serious harm from extending these separations.

It is unbelieveable to me that anyone would not think that these children will grow up and sue the state of TX for mental anguish!! Let them go home. Prosecute the offenders NOT the VICTIMS.