Court: Polygamist raid was wrong

2008-05-22 22:32

San Antonio - Texas overstepped its authority when it removed some of the 460 children taken from a polygamist compound last month, a state appeals court ruled on Thursday.

Texas Child Protective Services last month raided the isolated compound in west Texas and removed the children in response to allegations of abuse.

But the court said that the state had not proven that the children were in immediate physical danger, and therefore were improperly separated from their parents.

While the opinion covers the children of only 48 mothers, a lawyer told reporters that the ruling will likely apply to all of the children, who are in foster homes across the state.

"Essentially this decision from the Third Court of Appeals said that Child Protective Services had absolutely no evidence that would justify them going in there and removing these children from this household," said Cynthia Martinez, who represents 48 of the mothers whose children were removed.

The appeals court opinion gives a lower court, who initially approved the state's actions, 10 days to act.

The compound was run by followers of jailed polygamist leader Warren Jeffs who belong to a renegade Mormon sect known as the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

- Reuters