As the 416 children were taken from the ranch owned by polygamist Warren Steed Jeffs, the imprisoned founder of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, a new battle has started. This is one battle that will be far more taxing than the last battle on many different fronts.
Now, the new battle is taking place in the courts. This is one umbrella battle enveloping many other battles. The battle has started in a West Texas courtroom on Monday, April 14. It is a bunch of custody battles in regards to the 416 children that were taken from Jeffs’ ranch in Central Texas. The courts were overflowed with people as it was required by law for each child to have representation in court.
The first part is finding out how to sort out these cases. Each child is an individual case and there are 416 children. This means that the judge in charge will have to preside over all 416 cases. The custody hearing is set for Thursday, April 17.
It took 19 buses to take them from the shelter at Fort Concho which was getting crowded to the San Angelo Coliseum.
The cases get more complicated as authorities must find out about who their parents are. So far, several of the children had given very different stories.
The judge had to take several strict precautions in case members of the Jeffs’ sect on the ranch will try to influence the testimony of witnesses. One such measure would be the confiscation of the mobile phones from the mothers that had went with the children to the shelter.
So far, this is a foreshadowing of the legal maelstrom that is to come. The judge has to guard from all sides of the battle. This is one battle that will be taxing on the courts both physically and financially.
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