Tuesday, June 10, 2008

CPS: Court Abused Discretion

After an appeals court ruled that Child Protective Services overreached its authority by seizing more than 460 children from a polygamist ranch in West Texas; lawyers for the state agency accused the court of abusing its discretion by issuing the ruling.

The state agency and lawyers representing a group of mothers from the polygamist ranch seeking to regain custody of their children wait for the Texas Supreme Court to decide which side is standing on firmer legal ground.

The CPS lawyers took their swipe at the state’s Third Court of Appeals in a 19-page filing to the Texas Supreme Court where they reiterate their assertion that the children were in imminent danger of abuse when state authorities raided the ranch near Eldorado on April 3.

The lawyers have asked the state’s highest appeals court to set aside the Third Court’s ruling that would return the children to their families.

The lawyers said that the Third Court had given too much weight to assertions by FLDS members that the state had failed to demonstrate each child removed from the ranch was likely to be abused.

The Texas Supreme Court gave no indication when it would make a ruling in the case.

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