Texas officials defend removing FLDS children: Child advocate says state is ready to argue they be placed in foster homes

Texas lawmakers joined with state child and health advocates Tuesday to defend the removal of 416 children from a polygamous sect's ranch and the separation, a day earlier, of older children from their mothers.
"I'm so proud of our state for acting in the manner it has acted," said state Rep. Drew Darby, of San Angelo. Texas' motto, he said, ought to be changed to "Don't mess with the children of Texas."
While Darby and state Sen. Robert Duncan, of Laredo lauded the raid, Marleigh Meisner, spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, said the state is ready to argue before a judge Thursday that the children be placed in foster homes and not returned to the YFZ Ranch belonging to the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
"That is not a safe environment for these kids," she said.
"I believe we have children who are victims of physical abuse. I think we have children who are victims of sexual abuse. I also think we have children who were at risk because of the environment they were in," Meisner said at a news conference.
The decision Monday to force 57 women to leave 100 children ages 5 and older in state custody came after consultations with therapists and the attorneys ad litem for the children, she said. FLDS mothers remain with another 289 little ones.
"This was in the best interest of these children," Meisner said.
It was also in the best interest of the investigation, she said.
"We believe that children who are victims of abuse or neglect, and particularly victims at the hands of their parents, are certainly going to feel safer when they don't have a parent there coaching them."
Six of the women barred from remaining with their children went to a domestic violence shelter in San Angelo, but left hours later and returned to the ranch.
Estella, one of those women, said CPS workers had assured the women they would be reunited more quickly with their children if they went to the women's shelter. The FLDS women, dressed in their distinctive long dresses, would not give their last names.
The women left after being told by police officers who transported them that they could not use telephones at the shelter and after conferring with an attorney who told them they had no better chances of reuniting with their children, she said.
Women evicted from the shelters where CPS is keeping the children said Monday night and Tuesday their children are loved, not abused.
"We want them back home," said Annette, a mother whose 11 children - six of her own and five nieces and nephews she is raising - are in state custody.
"They were so much better taken care of at home. We teach them morals. They have nice homes," said Annette. She was in San Angelo on Tuesday to meet with an attorney she hired to help her regain custody.
Meisner, who described the decision to send the mothers away as difficult, said the children were sad and in tears after their mothers left.
CPS workers assured them that while families belong together, sometimes it is not possible. They were also told that guardians and attorneys would be meeting with them to learn information to tell the judge.
On Tuesday, Meisner said, the children were "happy, smiling and playing." She said she interrupted a kickball game between some youngsters and state troopers.
Mothers at the YFZ Ranch disputed CPS' contention that the children are happy in custody.
"If you could talk to the kids, they would tell you they want to go home," said Donna, one of the mothers evicted from the shelter Monday.
Dan Adams, president of Cal Farley's Boys Ranch, which is 35 miles northwest of Amarillo, confirmed Tuesday that 27 of the FLDS adolescent boys are now in temporary foster care at the ranch.
Meisner said a judge signed an order for their removal on Monday.
The boys, Adams said, are in one of the 28 homes on the 11,000-acre ranch and will be kept separate from other residents from throughout the country.
Darby, the lawmaker representing San Angelo, said that his title company handled the FLDS purchase of the acreage that became the YFZ Ranch. It had been an exotic game farm, and the single man who said he was the buyer told him he intended to use it as a hunting preserve, Darby said.
Locals, Darby said, have not wanted to interfere with the ranch because of the FLDS' right to religious liberty. Darby, a lawyer, said he had his name removed as the ranch's registered agent once he understood a polygamous sect had settled there.
kmoulton@sltrib.com---
* BROOKE ADAMS contributed to this report

By Kristen Moulton
The Salt Lake Tribune
Salt Lake Tribune
Article Last Updated:04/16/2008 12:10:34 PM MDT

SAN ANGELO, Texas -

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Background Info:

Polygamy is the practice of one husband having more than one wife. The practice of polygamy was once considered a part of the Mormon religion in the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints (LDS) up until the late 1800s. Today the LDS and the FLDS (see below) are not at all affiliated.

FLDS stands for Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. "Fundamentalist" usually means that the group practices the religion as it may have been practiced in the past, and refuses to follow more recently adopted practices of their religion. Men and women who practice polygamy will secure a place in heaven.
source http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2003/10/19/wmorm19....

Discussion:

Do you think that it was right for authorities to take all the children away from their mothers?

What should authorities do with the children now?

Should religious practices that are outside of the law be allowed?

What should be more important, religion or the government/law?

There is a large Mormon population in Salt Lake City, Utah where this article came from. Do you think that this article shows bias either for the fundamentalists or against them? Why do you think that is the case?

REMEMBER TO BE RESPECTFUL!!!
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