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I sort of figured it would start to pan out this way.
Earlier today a three judge court of appeals ruled that the State of Texas had no right to remove children from the Yearning for Zion ranch belonging to the FLDS because it in no way proved that they were in imminent danger. They panel stopped short of ordering that the children be returned to their parents but they did give the lower court 10 days to vacate an order placing the children in custody.
The way that the law works in Texas is that CPS has the authority to take immediate possession of a child or children if they have reason to suspect that their is an “immediate danger to the physical health or safety” of the child that warrants their removal.
According to the ruling CPS obtained an emergency order to take custody of the children based on reports from a hot line caller that said she had been raped and impregnated on the ranch. Those calls have pretty much found to have been false and there is apparently no useful information on the “informant” that the state supposedly had on the ranch. As a matter of fact I haven’t heard a word about the so-called informant in weeks.
The court also said that CPS didn’t make any kind of effort to determine if they could do anything aside from removing the children and the entire thing was pretty much based on religious persecution. They also said that the lower court and CPS treated the ranch as one single household and was incorrect in doing so.
One thing I find pretty interesting is the fact that I read a report yesterday that I had forgotten to post about. It had to do with CPS officials showing up with a couple of sheriff’s deputies getting turned away from the ranch because they had no search warrant. Apparently someone from CPS got wind that they might not have gotten all of the kids the first time.
