New "Texas Monthly" FLDS Article (The "Sex Bed" is baaaaack...)

I've read through it. The article is incomplete and somewhat one sided. You might want to as well.

"Less apparent in the tranquil setting was a powerful undercurrent of joy: Merrianne Jessop had arrived the night before. There was no 'Welcome Home' banner, no party; such theatrics would have been out of character for these humble, quiet people. But the feeling was there all the same. 'Right now there seems to be a little bit of relief in the air,' said Willie Jessop, the unofficial FLDS spokesman (Jessop is a common surname in the FLDS), as he drove me around the 1,700-acre spread outside Eldorado. Merrianne, a spunky fifteen-year-old with red hair, was happy to be back with her family on the ranch. She was quick to joke, rolling her eyes every now and then for laughs, tossing her head as a light West Texas breeze ruffled her lavender prairie-style dress.

The past year had been an ordeal. In the spring of 2008, the ranch was raided, and the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services had removed 437 children, including Merrianne, after a local domestic abuse hotline received a call from someone claiming to be a sixteen-year-old FLDS member. The caller’s report of underage marriage and sexual abuse triggered a massive investigation that led to an epic child custody battle, the largest in U.S. history. The Third Court of Appeals ruled that the removal of the children had been unwarranted, and a chastened DFPS returned the kids to the ranch, though the department continued to investigate the cases. Merrianne’s was the last to be settled.

Her mother, Barbara Jessop, and her new court-appointed guardian, Naomi Carlisle, who is also an FLDS member, seemed giddy as they looked at her. All three of them were confident that the Lord was on their side and that the state had had no right to intervene, never mind the mountains of evidence obtained during the investigation, some of which plainly showed that the FLDS had married young teenage girls to much older men. Never mind that the church’s prophet, Warren Steed Jeffs, was himself in prison for being an accomplice to the rape of a fourteen-year-old. Never mind that criminal charges, including sexual assault and bigamy, were still being brought against twelve men from the ranch. When asked about the upcoming trials, which start on October 26, Merrianne shrugged. 'The truth will prevail,' she said."

The Texas Monthly. There is this interesting allegation, for which I can find no basis in real evidence:

"A document that (Charles) Childress had not seen but was obtained by TEXAS MONTHLY appears to be instructions for the construction of a similar bed. It describes a bed 'covered with a sheet, but it will have a plastic cover to protect the mattress from what will happen on it.' It also described 'padded sides that can be pulled up that will hold me in place as the Lord does His work with me.' What in the world was going on here?"

I have never heard this allegation before, and if this document was found with the bed, why was it not entered into evidence? There is a serious matter implied here, and the even more serious question of why would evidence "obtained" by the Texas Monthly NOT be in the possession of the state?

There is this indictment of Governor Rick Perry:

"Childress wasn’t terribly impressed with the state leadership’s understanding of the situation. 'Going up to the governor, none of them had any idea what was going on,' he says. 'They had no clue.' As he worked through the cases, he says, all the department saw was numbers. ' "The department is losing two hundred some-odd cases!" That’s what was all in the news,' he says. Nonsuits were not 'losses,' a subtlety overlooked in most accounts. Having formed a clearer picture of family structures by way of DNA testing, the DFPS was identifying the individual circumstances of each family and coming up with specific tasks that needed to be done, such as psychological evaluations or parenting classes. By mid-September (last year), more than 250 children’s cases had been nonsuited."

The article seems to be written from the point of view of Mr. Childress. Charles also seems to reflect the attitude I have ascribed to Barbara Walther, and all those on the prosecution side of the issue. Just get this in front of a "West Texas Jury."

"As the months wore on, Childress went down to Austin to attend several meetings and explain his approach. One meeting included Albert Hawkins, the Health and Human Services commissioner; one included representatives from the attorney general’s and governor’s offices. Childress said he wanted to take some cases to trial. 'They’d ask, "Well, can you guarantee us it will win?" "No, there’s no such thing as a guarantee in a jury trial," I said, "but I’m pretty doggone certain that a West Texas jury hearing what all these people have been doing the last ten years is gonna be real reluctant to send these kids back to be raised by Warren Jeffs," ' Childress says. 'I didn’t get any feedback . . . I think they just frankly lacked the courage.'

And so, on October 23, Childress quit."

The article never touches on the evidence challenge. If it's lost, all the evidence Childress worries about is irrelevant from a legal standpoint and he has no cases. It sounds like Rick Perry seems to know that.

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Childress and Schmidt talk, reveal they are "True Believers."

Well, it wasn't exactly rocket science though many doctrinaire members of the rabid opposition took issue with my analysis back in October. They will be gratified to know I got something wrong. Childress was no friend of the FLDS, he was a True Believer.

The Modern Pharisee October 25th, 2008 - "I am speculating here but it is sound speculation for someone as far on the outside as I am. If this is truly the case, I again repeat that Charles Childress may turn out to be, in the final analysis, a great hero for the FLDS, having stood up to Texas who seems intent on prosecuting a much larger number of cases.

You can imagine a meeting that goes like this:

'You're dismissing nearly ALL the cases Charles, WHAT'S UP?!?!'

'You have maybe three cases.'

'That's unacceptable!'

'You have maybe three cases, this is what you hired me to do.'

'You find MORE!'

'I can't.'

(Phone Rings, Governor Perry is calling on his cell phone)

'Pack your kit and git Chuck.' "

In this speculated phone call, I got the rolls wrong but the general idea right. Childress did want to pursue custody cases, right up to severing parental rights, but Texas did not.

The San Angelo Standard-Times - (Patrick) Crimmins said, (Charles Childress and Jeff Schmidt's) position was not supported by the CPS caseworkers involved with the families.

'It is true that after being assigned to assist in these cases, Mr. Childress and Mr. Schmidt urged that the pleadings in several cases be amended to include a request for termination of parental rights," he said. "This recommendation was not supported by the conservatorship workers assigned to work with the children and families in these cases in the field, nor was it supported by their supervisors.' "

My error was in painting anyone outside of Childress and Schmidt as caring about the children. This does not make them pro FLDS or even their actions as pro FLDS nor would it make me agree with their actions as actually protective of the children, but they do believe in what they are doing and they were trying to find cases where children could be "saved" and they had gotten to the point where they thought they had.

"As the state's investigation continued, both men said they saw evidence to warrant filing motions seeking termination of parental rights on a number of cases - at least 10 and perhaps more, the attorneys said.

Instead, they said, they were overruled by leaders of the Department of Family and Protective Services, which runs the agency."

So the conversation is actually more like this.

"Charles, how are you coming on dismissing those cases? I thought you'd be done by now."

"I've got ten I want to go forward with."

"I don't think you understand Charles, we lost that battle but we have guys under indictment, and this was never really a child custody case, it was a fishing expedition masquerading as 400 child custody cases."

"I can't lend my name to that." (actually said by Childress)

"Get rid of all of those cases Charles, except for this one and that one."

"I can't."

(Phone Rings, Governor Perry is calling on his cell phone)

"Pack your kit and git Chuck."

That is more or less the gist of it. It was never about backing the FLDS having their kids on either side of the argument, it was about moving on and it never having been about the children in the first place. The Childress position is that CPS should really define Child Abuse as it was defined for justifying the taking of the children in the first place, the state's position is "that was all for show, we have what we want, we have our indictments, the children would have been a bonus, forget it. That's pretty much backed up by the following:

"Ultimately...the situation became untenable as pressure increased from Austin to shut down cases, even ones with significant concerns."

So pressure came from the state Capitol to get rid of the cases. I'm sorry, but with this looks too much like Austin never cared about the children. Even Childress in his twisted way cared more about the kids than the state did, they were always just an excuse. Over two days I wrote the following about the Childress situation including the above speculation that maybe Childress had turned in favor of the FLDS. First there was "Childress Resigns. CPS in Turmoil." That was absolutely accurate.

"After three months the attorney hired specifically to handle FLDS cases has abruptly resigned. Such resignations don't occur unless something major has happened behind the scenes. I've pointed out before that when high profile figures in a department or case resign, it's done with the awareness of how it will look to the world at large.

Clearly the damage of a Childress resignation was outweighed by the damage that Childress would stay, so he resigned. Since the appearance of a Childress resignation is a sign of the total turmoil in Texas and their "persecution" of the FLDS, the resignation signals extreme internal distress at CPS.

What else could possibly be the meaning of a three month employee resigning in the biggest child custody case in US History? By concluding there is no one to pursue, Childress has said there was no case. At all."

Accurate, completely up to the last sentence. It should have read "By the STATE concluding there were no cases to pursue, they have said there is no case, at all." The same day I made another observation.

"The key here is that whoever is ultimately pulling the strings in the whole CPS/FLDS/YFZ fiasco, it has been determined from the top that the handling of the custody cases is a disaster. Since this is politics, the disaster part is determined by how it makes those at the top look. Charles Childress had NOTHING to do with the raid taking place, but still falls on the sword. Preceding him was Gary Banks, who WAS lead counsel at the time of the raid."

I finished with the following on October 25th:

"(A) rule of politics is that you don't make your constituency (your co workers in a bureaucracy) LOOK bad. This LOOKS bad, so it IS BAD. You don't DO it unless something profound happens because it looks that way and everyone will think it is for some earth shattering reason. Planned resignations take place with the outgoing head giving plenty of time and citing 'good reasons' and praising their peers. Tom Brady doesn't quit the Patriots during the introduction of the starting line up in the Super Bowl. It's DESTRUCTIVE. It's not what a career 'team player' does. Bureaucrats are CONSUMATE team players. They don't survive unless they are."

Now we know how true that was. It was an earthquake, just like I said it was.

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"As Time Goes By," Further Evidence of Internal Conflict at CPS

The fact that Charles Childress quit and the nonsuits stopped should instruct. Childress hinted at internal friction by stating he "couldn't say anything" about his resignation. It's now been more than ten days and I've been informed some sort of definitive report is due in the approximate time frame of Next Friday, or soon thereafter. Figure Next Friday.

Patrick Crimmins demured, sometimes showing a bit of irritation when I called him earlier this week, and referred me to Jerry Strickland at the Attorney General's office when I asked about the demographic crossection of the remaining children. Jerry Strickland of course, has not returned my phone calls and emails.

More and more the recent developements look like a circle the wagons event. They're down to their last few bullets, and those may be duds. I'll be on the phone and on Jerry's cell phone, which I have, beginning Monday. I urge the media to ask who among the 37 remaining children is pregnant (almost certainly a zero). Who among them HAS been pregnant (also, almost certainly, a zero). Who among the remaining 37 are girls 12 and over?

Again, not to be a broken record, but the thrust of these questions is to sharply focus the media and public on the FACT that Texas lied when fabricating cause for their second warrant. More →

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Childress Sworn to Secrecy? CPS Resignation REEKS of internal warfare.

The evidence becomes overwhelming for a clear and sharp dispute behind the scenes leading up to the Charles Childress resignation. A more detailed article appeared today in the San Angelo Standard-Times:

"I cannot say a word about it," Childress said when reached at his Austin home Friday. "There is nothing I can say that wouldn't be out of line."

Wowsers. This sounds like it really got heated. Nothing he could say? Not even "This is best for me and my family" like Gary Banks said? "I think I'll go back to teaching?" Nope. There's NOTHING he could say that wouldn't be out of line. This more clearly seems to be the emotional residue of a forced resignation. Normally when someone says things like that one of two things are true, or both. Childress is still so angry over the affair that he can't trust himself to speak of it for fear of losing his composure and/or the dispute would be so damaging to one or both of the parties in the dispute that an agreement was signed not to speak of it.

"Banks, who sent the letter Sept. 5 and left the agency early this month, could not be reached for comment Friday."

Yeah right, "No comment."

"The attorneys join a growing list of officials associated with the April raid who have since left their jobs. Cary Cockerell, commissioner of the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services - of which CPS is a part - retired Aug. 31 for personal reasons, while Texas Ranger Lt. Barry Caver, who commanded the April raid, left law enforcement in June to pursue a better-paying oil-industry job.

None of the officials has cited the FLDS case as a reason for leaving. In Cockerell's case, CPS officials said specifically the case was not a factor in his decision.

Childress, a former University of Texas law professor who worked for CPS in the late 1990s, was brought back to help coordinate the massive case, which involved 439 children and 26 adults initially believed to be children."

Folks, this is war. This is an agency lurching out of control without direction. If you have any doubts, read on.

"The loss of essentially the two lead attorneys in the case likely will bring another CPS lawyer to the fore - perhaps Jeff Schmidt, who has represented CPS during some hearings.

'There is a group of attorneys out there' at CPS' San Angelo offices, said agency spokesman Patrick Crimmins. 'He (Childress) was just acting as lead attorney. We're just trying to figure out their roles and responsibilities.' "

CPS doesn't know WHO is going to take over. By the way, who would want the job? It's a greased rail to unemployment and disgrace. This wasn't planned IMHO. Someone threatened Childress without knowing how he'd respond and he quit or some issue came to light that someone had to take the blame for and Childress got the nod. Something happened that scattered the pieces on the chess board and they're in full scramble mode.

Once again, a rule of politics is that you don't make your constituency (your co workers in a bureaucracy) LOOK bad. This LOOKS bad, so it IS BAD. You don't DO it unless something profound happens because it looks that way and everyone will think it is for some earth shattering reason. Planned resignations take place with the outgoing head giving plenty of time and citing "good reasons" and praising their peers. Tom Brady doesn't quit the Patriots during the introduction of the starting line up in the Super Bowl. It's DESTRUCTIVE. It's not what a career "team player" does. Bureaucrats are CONSUMATE team players. They don't survive unless they are.

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A Glimpse into the CPS Boardroom Crisis

More trickles out about the resignation of Charles Childress in this article;

"It is with great regret that I hereby tender my resignation as staff attorney for the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, effective Nov. 1, 2008, or at whatever earlier date may be most convenient and least disruptive to the operations of the agency," Charles Childress wrote in a resignation letter obtained by the Deseret News.

The "Great Regret" part is diplomatic, but indicates dispute. This dispute is hinted at later by Mr. Childress. The part where he indicates that he will leave November 1st or whatever date is convenient? This says the disagreement was sudden and sharp. Unlike his immediate subordinate Gary Banks, who found work and resigned Mr. Childress has no soft landing.

Something happened that made Mr. Childress or the State of Texas change their minds about each other. In Charles case it would have most likely have been the result of being blindsided and his resignation is a polite way of saying "I was fired, on the spot." In this case he is being given the time to find another job. Whether or not his replacement shows up quickly, we can determine if this was sudden and surprising for Texas. If Childress stays well past November 1st, it was a surprise for Texas as well.

"I anticipate that we will have resolved all but a handful of pending cases through cooperative agreements with the parents, resulting in dismissal of the department's suits by early November," he wrote.

This hints broadly at the subject matter of the dispute. The writing is on the wall to reduce the number of FLDS child custody cases to perhaps less than five. The language indicates that the cases are going to be plural in nature, but the number will be very small.

"The remaining cases may end up going to trial next year. Three cases involving children either placed back in foster care or returned to their parents under family service plans will be up for dismissal in February 2009."

This aludes to the number of cases. It seems it will be three.

"The dismissal date for all other cases is April 13, 2009, although there is an argument that could be made against applying this deadline," Childress wrote.

Someone advocated that the cases be continued. Judging from the speed of the dismissals and the revelation of the "handful" estimate by Mr. Childress, it would seem Mr. Childress is likely to have fallen on the side of just letting those cases go.

I am speculating here but it is sound speculation for someone as far on the outside as I am. If this is truly the case, I again repeat that Charles Childress may turn out to be, in the final analysis, a great hero for the FLDS, having stood up to Texas who seems intent on prosecuting a much larger number of cases.

You can imagine a meeting that goes like this:

"You're dismissing nearly ALL the cases Charles, WHAT'S UP?!?!"

"You have maybe three cases."

"That's unacceptable!"

"You have maybe three cases, this is what you hired me to do."

"You find MORE!"

"I can't."

(Phone Rings, Governor Perry is calling on his cell phone)

"Pack your kit and git Chuck."

All should pay attention to this politicized prosecution. It is the very essense of what persecution is all about. The FLDS have become a political football. The fortunes of Texas depend on finding more than just a couple of Child Abuse cases than in the end may cost more than $20,000,000.00 apiece. For this reason it no longer matters what is right or what is wrong to the elected officials like Governor Perry. They need a lot of cape mounts on their den wall to justify what was done. Sorry FLDS, nothing personal. It's just politics. I hope you understand. Take one for the team willya?

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The Other Resignation at CPS and Confirmation of Turmoil (AKA "Reorganization")

If you needed confirmation of the internal fight going on at CPS, look no further than this story;

The Deseret News - "Texas Child Protective Services officials also are not commenting on why (Charles) Childress is leaving, but said they are in the process of reorganizing their legal team based in San Angelo, Texas, right now.

Childress is not the only lawyer who worked the FLDS child custody case to resign recently. Gary Banks, who was the lead counsel when the 439 children were taken into state custody immediately following the raid, resigned Oct. 3 to take a position with a Texas law firm."

The powerful and connected do not stay unemployed. They are offered safety nets even before they leave one job, even in disgrace. Politics is like that. Who needs a "Golden Parachute" when what you will be offered instead is lifetime security? But I digress. That is a discussion for both the Economic Pharisee and the Political Pharisee (both me, of course).

The key here is that whoever is ultimately pulling the strings in the whole CPS/FLDS/YFZ fiasco, it has been determined from the top that the handling of the custody cases is a disaster. Since this is politics, the disaster part is determined by how it makes those at the top look. Charles Childress had NOTHING to do with the raid taking place, but still falls on the sword. Preceding him was Gary Banks, who WAS lead counsel at the time of the raid.

Clearly the RESULT is important to those at the top. Gary is made responsible, but taken care of. It will be interesting to see how things go for Charles Childress. There are some days when you wish illegal wiretapping wasn't. I'd love to be able to speak to the mouse in the corner in those conference rooms.

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Childress Resigns. CPS in Turmoil

My my, but isn't this a bit of an earthquake;

The Houston Chronicle - "The lead attorney at the center of the largest child removal case in U.S. history has turned in his resignation and neither he nor Texas Child Protective Services are saying why.

Charles Childress was hired by CPS on July 21 to take over the behemoth case involving 439 children taken and eventually returned to the West Texas ranch belonging to the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, a polygamist sect."

Of course only one in six children taken in the raid are still the subject of CPS suits, the vast majority have been nonsuited. The only reason to believe that such nonsuits will stop, is the fact that the number of FLDS children taken in the raid is finite.

After three months the attorney hired specifically to handle FLDS cases has abruptly resigned. Such resignations don't occur unless something major has happened behind the scenes. I've pointed out before that when high profile figures in a department or case resign, it's done with the awareness of how it will look to the world at large.

Clearly the damage of a Childress resignation was outweighed by the damage that Childress would stay, so he resigned. Since the appearance of a Childress resignation is a sign of the total turmoil in Texas and their "persecution" of the FLDS, the resignation signals extreme internal distress at CPS.

What else could possibly be the meaning of a three month employee resigning in the biggest child custody case in US History? By concluding there is no one to pursue, Childress has said there was no case. At all.

Hat tip to Brooke Adams.

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