photo credit: Grundy

Various media outlets have been reporting today that Judge Walther (the most recent foe of liberty) has finally signed an order to release the children of the FLDS community to their parents. This after two superior courts knocked down her ruling, essentially saying to the world that this power-hungry woman was dead wrong.

After delaying her consent over the weekend (claiming that she wanted every FLDS mother to sign the order before she would), Walther finally today ordered the release of all children, with one exception. The childrens’ release is not without its caveats, for Walther has stuck her foot in the door of these families’ homes by mandating that the parents comply with the following:

Under the judge’s order, the Department of Family and Protective Services will still have the right to visit and interview the children.

These unannounced visits could entail medical, psychological and psychiatric examinations, and the parents must not intervene.

Also under the order, the parents must attend and complete parenting classes. The families must remain in the state of Texas and notify the department within 48 hours of any trips more than 100 miles from their homes.

As noted above, one child will not be released. The article linked above explains that Walther has claimed in her order that the girl is an “identified victim of sexual abuse.”

If your jaw didn’t drop while reading that line, then perhaps it would help to remember the basis upon which all of the children were removed from their families. The government claimed that there was widespread abuse, inflating its numbers and outright lying about the ages of many of the mothers. While some children were removed because of the future potential for abuse (a fascist notion of justice if there ever was one), many were claimed to have been victims of abuse.

And then there was one…

That’s right: after all of this domestic interventionism, after tearing children apart from their mothers, and after attracting the attention of the world, Walther, like a cowardly dog, has been forced to retreat with her tail between her legs. Since higher courts refused to mandate the childrens’ release, Walther is left the responsibility of doing so, thus allowing her to impose her wishes on continual interference in FLDS family life.

One wonders what these parents will teach their children about the government once they’re reunited. I envision numerous Family Home Evening-like lessons about how evil government is. Sadly, such an assertion is not entirely without merit.

I’m quite happy to hear that the children will soon be returning, but I cannot condone or support any continual monitoring of their lives, as Judge Walther has ordered. Just and proper government exists only to punish actions for which evidence has been obtained, not to continually monitor its citizens and invade their private lives.

Trying to push a soft and palatable response to the Court’s declaration that they messed up big time, Marleigh Meisner, spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Family Services, showed her adeptness at doublethink when stating that “Our goal is always to try to reunite families. We hope they can be safe there.”

Right.