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FLDS child-custody evidence is subject of dispute

"Formal discovery...is impossible" - WHAT????

If this were your personal case of being accused of a crime - would you accept that "formal discovery is IMPOSSIBLE????"

NO WAY. The bottom line was said in the previous paragraph - this is beginning to cost Texas and Shyster county a bundle and they want it over with and due process of the law be damned.

CORRUPT - CORRUPT - CORRUPT.

And obviously a judge and CPS system that believes it's above the law and does not have to follow the laws and guidelines already in place.

We know that the Constitution of the United States was discarded a long time ago in Texas.

How in the name of all that's holy does this judge continually get away with these flagrant violations of the U. S. Constitution?

Why hasn't she been removed from the Bench, disbarred, prosecuted, and jailed for these little habits?

Are these actions just happening to the FLDS, or has she been doing this for years?

So you don't incriminate ones self
This evidence was gotten through a raid caused by a hoax
Tesas is be coming a laughing stock of the Nation
I assume you people saw the Picture of a War Tank with the word Sherriff on it?
The Civil Police have no need for Military Weaponry.
This very well could have been another firey Waco all over.
We have a Major Civil Rights Violation my the Cops

"In a case with more than 140 mothers and 400 children, all of whom have lawyers, we maintain, and hope to show at the hearing on Sept. 4, that formal discovery ... is virtually impossible," [Childress] wrote.

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My God, isn't it obvious how Childress is lying once again? He and the judge are conspiring to deny these mothers access to the evidence against them, because for most of them (if not all of them) the evidence does not exist.

By suspending the right of discovery, CPS was able to rig the case against Barbara and Merriane Jessop. CPS is still trouting out the tired excuse that it is just too much bother to proceed with due process.

If formal discovery is "virtually impossible," then prosecution or child seizure from parents should be stayed until formal discover becomes possible. This is getting to be completely bizarre.

"Are these actions just happening to the FLDS, or has she been doing this for years?"

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I don't know about the judge, but CPS has been doing this for years and getting away with it. Obviously, the state is not going to rein them in, for they�re doing the state�s dirty work. The only solution is to put CPS under the close oversight of a federal court for five or ten years, or however long it takes to change their culture of lying and abuse of families.

Don't think that this is simply one little glitch in a system overloaded by the numbers in the case.
Some of the information CPS that CPS has used against the group has been released publicly....all they have to do is put an "official" stamp on the stuff and turn it over.
As long as "evidence" isn't "evidence" it can't be used as "evidence" while the state gathers more "evidence".
If or when the "evidence" is thrown out because of the nature of its retrieval the cases that have already been decided based on the "evidence" will stand because the "evidence" that hasn't been declared "evidence" will have already been decided.
The last article written concerning the investigation of the "evidence" refered to 17 investigaters having finished with the "hard" files and photos and they were starting on the computer files.
I hear that the last disc that was retrieved has a message from jeffs with a big happy face followed by the words April Fool........... but we won't know for sure until the "evidence" is in.

Well, the FLDS are blogging en masse, again. Actually, it's probably the same person blogging under different names.

This is so funny the way you people keep trying to convince everyone that the judge, the State of Texas and CPS have a vendetta against the FLDS. They've just got you targeted. Like they don't have anything else to do? Like They're just deliberating trying to destroy you?

These people are doing the best they can to try and protect children against abuse. They are just trying to do the job they have been given. They may have made a few mistakes, but they're doing their best.

What you people can't stand is the fact that the light of day is finally shining on the sick and illegal practices that the FLDS have been engaging in for generations. It's about time. Utah and Arizona have turned a blind eye for too long. If the FLDS weren't engaging in illegal, immoral and abusive practices, this NEVER would have happened. You have NO ON TO BLAME BUT YOURSELVES.

Show me the evidence........FLS bloggers....so I guess you are an anti flds blogger.....blogg on.

Generally Cats is quite lucid on these boards. However, today she has fallen into that old trap of the ends justifying the means. Because "these people are doing the best they can to try and protect children against abuse. They are just trying to do the job they have been given", trampling on civil rights and ignoring due process are ok? To say nothing of the emotional or physical injury the purported victims and perpetrators may have suffered in the process.

This is a mess and virtually everyone knows it. CPS is trying allege abuse based on the religion/culture of this group. Their evidence about specific incidents is largely based on hearsay. Any hard evidence is being culled from records seized in the raid, which may be inadmissable. After raising the leagal age of marriage from 14 to 16, TX now has to prove the underage marriages occurred in TX within the proper timeframe.

Given TX precendent setting sexual behavior laws, look for some enterprising lawyer to make a run at striking down the statutory rape law. If the girl can consent to an abortion, why can't she consent to sex, even with a much older man? It's a mess.

Hmmm! I don't recall ever saying what sex I am. Apparently it is assumed that I'm a woman.

Evensteven: I'm sorry you don't think I'm as lucid as usual. I'm just really sick and tired of all these irrational attacks on the Judge and CPS. The only reason this thing has happened to begin with is because the FLDS have engaged in illegal behaviors. CPS has been given a charge to protect children. When they find evidence of crimes against children, they have no choice but to act.

This thing will all be sorted out in the end. I believe there will be leaders and members of the FLDS that will probably go to jail. There will probably be endangered children who will be seized from unsafe environments. I also believe there will be others who will be left alone.

You may not use religion as an excuse to commit crimes. If you are going to flaunt the law, abuse children, force young girls into underage marriages, engage in child rape, break up families through reassignment, seize homes and throw young boys out into the cold, you are asking for it.

THE FLDS HAVE NO ONE TO BLAME BUT THEMSELVES!

Cat likes to call anyone with a difference of opinion than hers, FLDS. Like as if this is school children calling names game. This has to do with people's lives. Shame on you Cat for not upholding the Constitution that even gives you freedom to name call and get away with it.

It is evident that you have never had to deal with CPS and the court system that works WITH them. I have and what is going on in Texas is very typical. CPS and the court system 'wash each other's back'. What CPS wants they get. They need to prove very little and most of it is by their say-so. If CPS whats the children bad enough they will use sexual abuse to the child. In order to get a parent to give up their Parental Rights they threaten the parent with a trial that they will be put in jail.

CPS 95% of the time get exactly what they want and it is because they and the Judge get paid by the same people - our tax dollars.

I strongly recommand looking up "Maine, A law unto itself" It will also lead to other major cases throughout the country. It will show just how buddy buddy CPS and the court system is.

Cats, I am not from the FLDS. I have never even met a mmember of the FLDS. Cats, normal people are upset by the abuse of power. CPS has been given too much power and this is the result.

FLDS, is it wrong what I heard, that if some of your young boys don't want to live your religion to the fullest, you kick them out of the house and community before they are ready to fend for themselves?

If this is not true, please tell the world, if it is, then you have your own evidence of neglect and abuse, why fight what Texas is doing?

If this is true, then treat all that is happening to you as a blessing, your culture is being transformed from the outside, since you refuse to do it from within.

Sosugrof: You are certainly entitled to your opinions and I support that right. However, may I just say, if you really had more contact and knew much about the FLDS and their practices, you might have some adjustment to your opinions.

There really are victims there that need help. Regardless of how you feel about some of the mistakes that have been made by the State of Texas, this might be their best chance to get help. Many former FLDS members are really hoping this intervention will be the chance for a new life for these victims. I hope so, too.

Cats, the state of Texas should be held to a higher standard, since they have the burden of proof. They should not be allowed to "make mistakes" when they feel like it. That's just an excuse to be a police state and an affront to all of us. And I'm not FLDS but I am outraged that the state doesn't think Due Process is important enough to preserve it at all times.
I think the state should apologize and get out of the way until it can start over on legal grounds. It should have done that a long time ago.

To Evidence of Neglect: Yes, it is true that the FLDS throw a lot of young boys out into the street--on any excuse. The older men don't want that much competition for wives and there aren't enough to go around.

Jeffs has excommunicated men and also taken homes and families away from them because he felt some threat to his power. These women and children get reassigned to other men at the whim of the leadership.

This, among many other reasons, is why these people need help. This abuse has gone on for generations. I hope people won't continue to defend this kind of behavior. Former FLDS members have expressed the hope that this will help these victims. They say there have been so many who have offered to help them for about a second and then have gone away and left the wreakage behind without really doing anything.

I hope this time will be different.

Sorry if I missed on the gender, Cats. Felines are feminine where I come from.

Having deep So. Utah roots (one of the founding families), I am well aware of the issues you raise about the FLDS community. However, insinuation, innuendo, belief or gossip is not evidentiarily sufficient for what CPS is doing. If there is clear evidence, legally obtained, then by all means prosecute. Until there is that evidence, we must just hold our noses and work for a better solution. CPS does not have the right, in the name of doing something good, to ignore due process. As difficult and heart-wrenching as that may be, we must abide by the law or it becomes meaningless.