Talks between Warren Jeffs’s polygamist sect Yearning for Zion and the State of Texas fell apart Friday when a district court judge decided to expand the ruling of the Texas Supreme Court and add additional restrictions and qualifications that must be met before the children will be returned to their families.
Judge Barbara Walther did not produce any authorization under State law for this usurpation of authority, to which several attorneys for the sect rightly objected. They pointed out that she had no right to expand on a ruling made by a higher court, and they counseled their clients not to sign the new requirements.
MSN has one version of the story here. I believe with this expansion of the ruling, many people will focus on the judge’s justifications but completely miss the whole point of the case.
It is essentially about legal kidnapping. And the Yearning for Zion group proved in court that the State Child Protective Services removed those 400 children under the color of law, but without legal justification. If you or I were to do the same, we would be prosecuted as kidnappers facing serious prison time. Since when does any government agency have the right to seize anything without due process, even if the life of a child is threatened?
The Texas Supreme Court ruling basically says the Texas CPS agency was wrong to remove those children. Now what would you or I do in such a case? Apologize? Hopefully, and do everything we could to right the wrong. So what does the State of Texas do? I have yet to hear any apologies from any state official, and instead of seeking to return the children as quickly as possible, officials are finding excuses not to return the children.
To make matters worse, this district judge refuses to let any of the children return to their families unless her demands are met. What is this other than legal terrorism? What is this other than blackmail? She holds the fate of the children in her hands, and unless she gets what she wants, she will ignore the Supreme Court’s ruling. She is holding these families hostage, and who is going to stop her? In my opinion, Judge Walther believes she can make such demands because her aim is only to keep the children away from their birth parents for as long as possible, hoping that exposure to other lifestyles will eventually break down the cult’s hold on them.
Where are we headed when the judges and the government ignore the Rule of Law? Judge Walther, by her actions, is demonstrating that in her jurisdictions the law of will prevails–her will. But the rule of will is tyranny. How long will we let officials trample on our rights like this? How long will it be before your children are threatened with removal because of some unproven allegation? Will you just stand there and let it happen?
Our officials need to be constantly reminded that they are bound by the law as much as any other citizen. We should be reminding them often that their authority is not granted by the office they hold, but by We the People who created those offices. We must not tolerate the government overreaching it’s legal bounds for any reason, no matter how well-intentioned.
