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Recent Develpments In the FLDS Child Custody Case

By Howard Friedman

Carey Cockerell, the Texas Commissioner of Family and Protective Services, testified before the Texas Senate Committee on Health and Human Services last Wednesday on developments and challenges in the handling of children taken into foster care after the raid of the FLDS ranch in Eldorado, Texas. A recording of the full hearing is available from the Senate's website. The previously scheduled hearing was to focus on needs of the Department, on the foster care system and on preventing child abuse. The Department of Family and Protective Services posted on its website a release summarizing the Commissioner's testimony, as well as a follow-up letter to the chairman of the committee. DFPS has also posted a "Model for Care" for the FLDS children and a "Cultural Awareness Guide" for caregivers. Saturday's Deseret News discusses the Cultural Awareness Guide.

Last Thursday, Tom Green County District Court released a document titled the Bishop's Record that contains the names, ages and locations for many of the FLDS men, women and children. An article in Friday's San Angelo Standard-Times discusses the document and also contains a sidebar with links to all the court document that have so far been released in the case.Texas DFPS has posted on its website a breakdown by age and gender of the 464 FLDS children. The website also contains a chronology of the investigation and a Frequently Asked Questions document.

Meanwhile Cardozo Law School professor Marci Hamilton published an article on FindLaw contending that the due process and religious freedom arguments raised by FLDS members lack merit.

Full post as published by Religion Clause on May 04, 2008 (boomark / email).