Warren Jeffs Convicted Child Molester

Well, it’s official, Warren Jeffs, Prophet–so called of the FLDS church is a convicted child molester.  I did not follow the trial on a day to day basis; however, assuming media reports to be accurate, from what I have read, the State of Texas was able to accomplish what Utah was unable to do–put Jeffs away for life for actual criminal activity on his part.

I have written highly critical previous posts about Jeffs’ Utah trial.  The reasons are clear enough in the prior posts, and I need not repeat them here.  I was also highly critical of the State of Texas’ raid and abduction of all the FLDS children back in 2008.  I remain highly critical of that initial raid, for the reasons Texas gave, and which I covered extensively in the prior posts.

That said, my defense of Jeffs in his Utah trial and my defense of the FLDS people in the Texas raid has nothing to do with my personal view of Jeffs at this point, based on the evidence presented in the Texas trial and the resulting jury’s verdict.  Mr. Jeffs belongs in prison, and life is not likely a long enough term for him, given the horrific nature of his crimes.

The Salt Lake Tribune has some very interesting posts of some of the audio recordings Texas authorities used to convict Jeffs and his delusional ramblings of how he needed quorums of wives, some of whom clearly were underaged.  The recordings are pretty creepy, even when the topic is not sexual in nature.

Jeffs has had his day in court, the evidence presented, and now he serves a life sentence as a convicted child molester.  It will be interesting to see how this impacts his control over the FLDS church he ran, and whether there will be a power play for the position of “prophet.”

 

Anderson Cooper–Who’s Keeping Him Honest On The Warren Jeffs FLDS Story?

I just finished watching Anderson Cooper’s 360 discussion on the Warren Jeffs story tonight in his Crime and Punishment segment.  Some how, his signature statement of how he and every contributor to his program is keeping someone or another honest just got lost in the shuffle.

 

FLDS Texas Raid–One Year Later

Brooke Adams, the Salt Lake Tribune’s reporter who blogs on polygamy issues for the Trib, has a good one year later recap article in today’s Tribune on last year’s debacle in West Texas.    My posts on that disaster are here.  

 

Texas Supreme Court Upholds Lower Court FLDS Ruling

The Texas Supreme Court today upheld the lower appellate court ruling, which ordered the trial Judge Barbara Walther to vacate her order authorizing the removal of all the FLDS children from the YFZ Ranch.  You can read the ruling here.

 

Texas To Appeal FLDS Ruling

Well, Texas has not done anything right in this case from the inception–why start now?.  So, while I am disappointed to hear they plan to appeal the ruling, it is not really a surprise.  The Salt Lake Tribune reports:

 

Texas Appeals Court Rules FLDS Children Must Be Returned

Photo LM Otero/Associated Press

Justice is finally rearing its head in the ugly West Texas raid on the FLDS YFZ ranch.  The Salt Lake Tribune is reporting that a Texas appeals court has ruled that Texas did not have sufficient evidence to seize all 400 plus children in its ludicrous actions last month:

 

The Bad Public Policy Behind The Texas FLDS Raid

This will be a rather short post, but the topic, I think is important, and worth mentioning.  I’ve posted numerous times on the problematic legal and Constitutional issues resulting from Texas’ raid on the FLDS community; however, I think the bad public policy behind this fiasco now emerges:

 

The Revisionist Timothy Egan

Sometimes, the faith of our fathers is better left to the revisionists.

Wow!  And, Mr. Egan ought to know.  His recent article in the New York Times is as revisionist as it gets.  While I responded briefly to Mr. Egan, by far the best (and most biting) response, far more eloquent than mine, was posted over at Nine Moons by fellow Mormon blogger Seth R.  Well done Seth, and thank you.

Previous FLDS Texas Raid Posts

Additional Coverage:

A Humble Reaction (Waters of Mormon by Paradox)

All The Prejudice Fit To Blog (Fair Blog)

Where The Lost Boys Go (Fair Blog)

The Salt Lake Crawler

 

The YFZ, FLDS Plight–Some Interim Thoughts . . .

This story continues to be riveting; but as many have pointed out, it is beginning to fade, and will continue to do so with time.  I will still continue to blog about it in the days, weeks, and possibly months to come, but probably not with the same frequency.  Many questions remain.  I have nothing profound to add.  I have read each and every comment on the various posts on this blog, and on many others to which I have linked.  Of course I do not have time to respond to them all; however, I have appreciated all the discussion, and have learned a great deal from many of the comments. 

 

Local Central Coast Talk Radio To Take Up FLDS Debate

Just a quick update–The Central California Coast talk radio station, KVEC 920 AM will discuss the events unfolding in West Texas and FLDS community.  KVEC has a website, where live streaming is available.  You can even call in and join the discussion on this number 1-800-549-5832. It will air on the Dave Congalton Show (Hometown talk radio).

The segment will begin at 5:05 p.m. California PDT.  (Disclaimer–I will be a guest on the show). So, if you have a thought or two on Texas’ raid on the FLDS community, call in and speak your piece.

Boy, that’s for sure (HT Bethie)