apparently, in texas you can only take kids away from their parents without a court hearing if they’re in immediate danger (however that’s defined).

those 400 FLDS kids? not shown to be in immediate danger, according to the third court of appeals in austin. the grounds for removing the kids were “legally and factually insufficient,” they decided.

the texas department of family and protective services kept insisting that the entire ranch was essentially one household, which gave them grounds to search the whole damn place on the basis of a few unsubstantiated phone calls alleging abuse by a single person against the mystery caller. barbara walther, the trial judge who was presiding over the whole farce, accepted that argument. FAIL, said the third court of appeals, in footnote 10:

10. The notion that the entire ranch community constitutes a “household” as contemplated by section 262.201 and justifies removing all children from the ranch community if there even is one incident of suspected child sexual abuse is contrary to the evidence. The Department’s witnesses acknowledged that the ranch community was divided into separate family groups and separate households. While there was evidence that the living arrangements on the ranch are more communal than most typical neighborhoods, the evidence was not legally or factually sufficient to support a theory that the entire ranch community was a “household” under section 262.201.

hah. not only is 51st district judge barbara walther woefully out of touch (don’t get me started on her “they don’t need to breastfeed” rationale), but she’s also wrong. “The district court is directed to vacate its temporary orders granting sole managing conservatorship of the children of the Relators to the Department.” according to npr, walther has 10 days to comply with the ruling.

the next question: will the FLDS members try to sue the government of texas, the department of family and protective services, or its agents? and could they succeed?