Edgy Mama

It’s good to know that judges in Texas are reading my Edgy Mama column in Mountain Xpress.

OK, maybe they’re not reading my column specifically, but can I say that my mind works like that of a sharp-honed-edge Texas court of appeals? Wait, do I really want to make that comparision? Yes, in this situation, I think I do.

Yesterday, a three-judge panel in Texas ruled that child state-protection agencies lacked the evidence necessary to forcibly remove all of the children at the Yearning from Zion Ranch from their families.

Let’s look at some of what I wrote in my column about this situation two weeks ago. Here I’m addressing the state of Texas child protective services:

“But, why exactly did you take all of the girls, from nursing babies and toddlers to teenagers, away from their families? And why did you insist on removing all the male children as well? The argument that the boys are being groomed as perpetrators holds a tiny bit of water, but not for the young ones. I can’t even groom my 6-year-old to wipe his mouth with a napkin.”

Here’s what the court of appeals judges wrote yesterday:

“Even if one views the FLDS belief system as creating a danger of sexual abuse by grooming boys to be perpetrators of sexual abuse and raising girls to be victims of sexual abuse. . . there is no evidence that this danger is ‘immediate’ or ‘urgent’ . . . with respect to every child in the community.”

More from my column:

“Despite protests from the parents, many of whom say they are not engaged in polygamous or underage marital practices, every child who formerly lived on this ranch has been ripped away from home and put into foster care…So, why aren’t government officials looking at this situation on a case-by-case basis? Supposedly, more than 130 women, some of them mothers, voluntarily left the ranch when offered the opportunity. Why can’t these women have their kids back?”

From the court of appeals:

“There is no evidence that [the mothers] have allowed or are going to allow any of their minor female children to be subjected to any sexual or physical abuse. There is simply no evidence specific to [the mothers’] children at all except that they exist, they were taken into custody at the Yearning For Zion ranch, and they are living with people who share a ‘pervasive belief system’ that condones underage marriage and underage pregnancy.”

Again, I believe that the state should act to remove abused children from their abusers, if they have evidence of abuse. I also hate the idea of girls being directed to marry and marry young.

But, as a mother, I mostly hate the idea of loved, well-cared-for children being forcibly taken from their families because of the whiff of wrong-doing by a few men associated with the group. As I said in my column, punish the offenders, not the innocent.