Major Announcement in the wake of Supreme Court FLDS decision

From the San Angelo Standard-Times;

"A hearing has been scheduled for 2 p.m. today in the Tom Green County Courthouse regarding the children taken from the polygamist sect's YFZ Ranch near Eldorado, according to a court administrator.

Willie Jessop, a leader and spokesman for the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints members who live on the ranch, told a group of reporters this morning at the courthouse that he is 'hoping for a miracle at 2.'"

Here's hoping CPS has the good sense to give up and give them back. They should. Surprises tend to be late on Friday afternoon. More →

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Texas Appellate Lawyer Analyzes CPS/FLDS Case before Texas Supreme Court

There's dumb (me) vs smart (Don Cruse, Texas appellate lawyer). What do the requests for information PROBABLY mean?

"Having requested a response, the rules now give the Court more latitude to grant the requested mandamus relief for the State in full, rather than just a temporary stay.

So does that signal that the Court is leaning one way or the other? Perhaps not. Typically, the Court will request a response if even a single Justice votes to do so, and it is easy to imagine the Court wanting to see what the mothers have to say about the merits before deciding how to dispose of this case."

Whatever the court rules, they will not revisit the case. I do see support in Don's analysis for the idea that this case has become politicized at the Supreme court level though. We'll see.

Looking at it politically you have to figure that the court is wanting to hand off a hot potato. Monday will be June the 2nd. The next big dates on the calender are June 5th and 6th. In that time frame a lot of things happen. The hearings are supposed to be done with for the service plans. DNA evidence begins to come back. Rozita Swinton has her first court date. I don't know if they can get away with it but if I were trying to avoid the consequences of my decision, I'd do it at the end of the next week. Look for the decision then, or late Friday afternoon, May the 30th.

If the court rules in favor of the FLDS, you could see the decision anytime after noon today. If in favor of CPS, you'll see it in those time frames I mentioned above.

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Texas Supreme Court gives hints

What the Supreme Court asks for hints they have allowed the politics of the case to enter into their decision;

SAN ANGELO, Texas - The Salt Lake Tribune - "The Texas Supreme Court has asked attorneys representing nearly three dozen mothers from a polygamous sect to answer the state's bid to overturn an order returning their children.

The supreme court was already considering the narrow issue of whether to stay the ruling, which was issued a week ago by the Third Court of Appeals. It found a trial judge improperly kept some 450 FLDS children in state custody.

Now, the supreme court is giving attorneys for Texas RioGrande Legal Aid (TRLA) a deadline of Thursday at 9 a.m. to respond to the state's broad appeal of that ruling."

Ok, now this bothers me a little bit, since orginally it was just going to be a ruling on the court of appeals jurisdiction. Now it seems we're retrying the case, and on short notice. It could just be a courtesy since CPS raised all of these spurious issues, but the fact that they might read these assertions by CPS and responses by the representatives of the families bothers me a bit.

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