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	Direct Anger at FLDS Leadership, Not Texas Authorities The Spectrum April 25, 2008 http://www.thespectrum.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080425/OPINION/804250309 Many think that Texas deprived the FLDS mothers of their constitutional rights of due process. Bryan Hyde recently so opined. Several writers to the editor have complained bitterly that mothers should not have their children torn away from their homes by the government. Mr. Hyde is right to be concerned about separating children from their parents for even a short time. Nevertheless, constitutional and criminal law seek both to protect parents' rights to liberty and to protect children from physical and sexual abuse. Mr. Hyde might argue that the state has no such interest in child protection, but many reasonable judges have ruled against him for many years. They hold that under certain specific circumstances children can be removed from their home to prevent imminent threat of abuse. In a Utah case, the United States Tenth Circuit court said: "The parents' liberty interest in the custody and management of their children while paramount must be balanced against the state's compelling interest in protecting children against physical and sexual abuse." Children in all states are commonly and legally removed from their homes temporarily to prevent imminent harm or to investigate allegations of physical and sexual abuse. The prompt hearing afforded the parents in San Angelo, Texas, after the children's removal was in partial satisfaction of due process. The mothers who have written letters to the editor have a different point of view. There is no nightmare more dreadful to a mother than a false accusation of child abuse and the mere thought of losing her child. Motherly instincts for child protection turn them into tigers. Thus, to see those docile polygamist mothers speak about this event in monotones devoid of emotion is passing strange. One would think that these mothers would be pleading with tears to be reunited with their children. Instead, they seemed to be confused about whose child is whose. These mothers are accustomed to suffering institutional oppression. After all, some reportedly stand by while their teenage daughters are used as sexual objects by middle-aged men. These mothers, who ought to be fighting to protect their daughters, willingly offer them up as sacrificial virgins to be consumed on the altars of lust in their false temple. You mothers who are outraged that these children should suffer this emotional jolt have a right to be outraged. But do not turn your rage on the state of Texas. Rage against the FLDS church that so brainwashes mothers that some become accomplices in harming their daughters. The Eldorado child protective investigation has discovered 20 underage FLDS girls who are pregnant. This is powerful evidence of institutional abuse that needs to be stopped. Warren Jeffs was convicted of rape as an accomplice for this practice and faces more charges in Arizona. We in Utah should have the courage to defend these innocent teenage girls and the children yet to be born. Protecting the innocence of children remains the most worthy goal of any justice system and a compelling reason for state intervention. Bryce Dixon is a Washington City resident.
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