as a condition of recovering custody of their kids - taken from their homes without regard for due process or less-hostile alternatives, judge barbara walther is requiring that the yearning for zion flds parents

… be photographed, take parenting classes, submit to in-home inspections and remain in Texas during a continuing investigation by state child welfare authorities.

excuse me? i’m confused as to what gives walther the authority to require the parents submit to any of those things - as far as i know, they haven’t been charged with any crimes; does the investigatory power of the texas department of family & protective services extend that far?

i’d read the actual order, but walther’s court doesn’t seem to have an online presence.

(other information in the article disturbs me as well: the department and the judge seem to want to make it as difficult as possible for families to reunite, requiring that parents travel to where their children are, rather than returning the children to them. according to the article, the children are scattered around the state - and texas isn’t small. a comment by the spokeswoman for the department, marleigh meisner, also raises red flags: she mentions “where the children are being held.” held? does the department think they, too, have committed some crime?)