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

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

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Interloper | 12:18 a.m. May 31, 2008

Judge Walther is apparently a respected judge of moderate leanings. The court of appeals has three very conservative judges. The attorneys for the FLDS mothers may have forum shopped that particular court for that reason.

Your city is next! | 12:19 a.m. May 31, 2008

Gal50: "CPS must have continuing access to that ranch for as long as the FLDS owns the ranch."

That is outrageous and no one should agree to such a condition. If CPS has evidence or probable cause for an investigation of a family who live at their compound then they should investigate but the FLDS shouldn't have to agree to unlimited access anymore than parents who have had their children returned should have to agree to unlimited access to their homes.

"If 20% of FLDS men tend to be rapists, one could conclude that most likely the compound will always be occupied by child rapists and that the children may return to live among child rapists."

I suspect that you can find about the same amount of abuse in most U.S. cities yet we don't give CPS unlimited access to our homes.

"It is extremely important therefore that CPS have continuing access to this compound to ensure that either there are no girls over ten or no men in the compound."

I guess the next time there is a child rape in your city your child should be taken and not returned unless you agree to no men in town.

Anonymous | 12:51 a.m. May 31, 2008

TO those saying the Catholic church scandal is anything like the FLDS systematic rape of young girls, your logic is seriously flawed. First of all the Catholic church leaders do not preach that children should be "married" under the age of 18. The rogue ministers, priest, ect that individually molested children did so on their own. The parents had no idea these awful things occured and when they found out they complained loudly and filed charges. The FLDS encourage their underaged daughters to "marry" and have sex with older men. The leader has sex with 12 year olds. It is pervasive in this community. I have NEVER heard of one FLDS parent doing anything to protect their young daughters. On the contrary they lead them to the slaughter. Good for this Judge. She is doing the best she can to ensure the safety of these unfortunate children. Shame on those of you that condone the ongoing rape of little girls.

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The "prophet" in his own words | 1:29 a.m. May 31, 2008

WARREN JEFFS, FLDS LEADER: Jailhouse converstation ï¿½I am hesitating while I`m giving this message as the Lord dictates these words to my mind and heart. I am not the prophet. I never was the prophet, and I have been deceived by the power powers of evil. The Lord told me to say, and I yearn for everyone`s forgiveness for my aspiring and selfish way of life, in deceiving the elect, breaking the new and everlasting covenant and being the most wicked man on the face of the earth in this last dispensation.ï¿½

D | 7:08 a.m. May 31, 2008

The Judge Walthers is incompetent and does not follow the laws of the land and is a puppet in the hands of CPS! Somebody somewhere ought to have the power to make her give up her position and stop this horrific expense and terror to the American people with the things she's done.
I say, "Enough damage has been done, make her go off her throne of power which she obviously doesn't deserve. Something is wrong somewhere with her."

stupid people | 8:37 a.m. May 31, 2008

Some of the posts on here are really disgusting. If you hate the idea of people having constitution rights so much why don't YOU go to a country without them ? you don't belong HERE.

Examples | 8:50 a.m. May 31, 2008

Clearly the FLDS children are brianwashed. They need to be corrected by watching Sex and the City, Miley Cyrus' photos, Britney Spears crotch shots, as well as many other marvelous examples of our to be envied morality. Truth be told, the FLDS girls have a lower incidence of underage sex and pregnancy than my own neighborhood. So, why is Texas targeting them? And why is this judge not declared unfit?

Hey gal50 | 8:54 a.m. May 31, 2008

Your numbers are waaaay off. The numbers you suggest were only relevant when CPS was lying and stating that women that showed I.D. including drivers licenses and birth certificates were minors. The adult women were not likely victims of statutory rape since the law in TX allowed for 14 year olds marrying only a few short years ago. While it is a crime now, it wasn't a crime then with the law only changing to particularly target the flds while continuing to fail to prosecute men outside the FLDS community for the same, exact crime.

To anon | 8:56 a.m. May 31, 2008

Nope, the Catholic Church does not preach that you should be married at age 18, but it does teach that you should be married before having "relations." In our community, the heavily Catholic and Hispanic girls marry quite young often at 16 and 17.

If | 8:58 a.m. May 31, 2008

If Carolyn and Flora Jessop have information that is so reliable and trustworthy, why didn't CPS and the TX court request them as witnesses?

RL | 10:48 a.m. May 31, 2008

If everything that's being reported on the news is correct, keeps forgetting her place. If she's been ordered by a higher court, she needs to comply instead of throwing tantrums like a hormonal school girl.

Dan | 11:06 a.m. May 31, 2008

One simple sentence to describe Judge Walthers actions: "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned".

Shocked | 12:46 p.m. May 31, 2008

I am stunned by all of this but what i find worrying is that so many people are focused on the Judge. Warren Jeffs was hailed by eg Merril Jessop who willingly let his daughters be married to Jeffs. Just look how many people on that compound are called Jessop, way too many, I am not religious but i would stand and shout for the right to religious freedom. But religious freedom does not make any one amune from the Law. There is no smoke without fire and support groups are there for people that have escaped this sect. I have to wonder why? If these people are as blissfully happy as that why are there support groups for the many escapees??
I just hope (not pray) that for the sake of the children that the state is wrong and none of them have been hurt but sadly i feel that this is not the case.

John Lambert | 7:20 p.m. May 31, 2008

I know of people who were employed by Catholic parishes who were living out of wedlock. I know of people who were told by their Catholic priest it was ok to have sex outside of marriage. I am not saying this is the official Catholic position, but with such diversity in practice and ignoring of the directives of both the Pope and local bishops, to legally treat the Catholic Church as one community of belief would be quite difficult.
On the same matter, to drag off the FLDS on the alleged community of belief was too much as well. While there ar issues between FLDS practice and state laws, to view 14 year olds entering into what they view as marriage and 14-year-olds having sex with 22-year-old men who have intention of sticking around after the girl gets pregnant is to class unlike things.
One issue few people seem to have faced is do any of these females feel they have suffered from statutory rape? Has Texas found one girl at the YFZ ranch who will come to court and testify that they were raped?

To all ..... | 1:35 p.m. June 1, 2008

Interestingly many seem to think that CPS is this all powerful entity. Often they are battling not only with parents, but also the legal system. The process of returning children after an initial removal and monitoring is to ensure the safety of the children. The FLDS parents are not being required to do anything more or less than any other parent involved in a removal. The Texas Supreme Court did give the Judge the latitude to add additional restrictions if she felt itnecessary. Parents have to be protective of these children and the only way to prove they are is through monitoring. Mom's who say that their "Profit" is perfect are clearly not thinking straight expecially since he now sits in jail. There are bias' the comments I have read on many articles and many people do not have a clue other than that reported in the news of what is going on. I hope the children will have made new friends and remember the slip-n-slide and realize that the outside world is not the evil place it is proported to be.

SadToBeAmerican | 10:15 p.m. June 1, 2008

The Judge's actions are completely uncalled for. She sets a horrible example for all of the US court judicial systems. The FLDS Church has been stripped of their 1st Amendment right to Freedom of Religion as well as many other violations of their 1st Amendment rights. NO accounts of 'molestation' or 'abuse' have been substantiated or even remotely proven. NO girl under the age of 16 has been PROVEN pregnant, by the way Texas law permits 16 years old to be the legal age of consent. NO laws have been broken. NOT ONE allegation of anything has been proven what so ever. As far as polygamy is concerned, I would consider having 10 wifeï¿½s, and taking responsibility for all of them, far better than 10 sets of illigitiment children or having sex with the average of 15 women before marriage, as is common with todayï¿½s society. What about the person who made the report jailed, and then anonymously bailed out, only to never be heard of again? CPS only receives funds based on the number of children they place in foster care and not by the families they help. This whole case is a TITANIC violation of civil rights.

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