BishopAccountability.org
	Motion to Have Judge Removed from Case Dismissed KSL May 20, 2008 http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=3348643 There was a new twist today in the court battles over children belonging to members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) in Texas: One of the fathers tried to get a judge removed from the case. Dan Jessop started court proceedings with a bang. Showing off pictures of his wife and two older children, he fired a shot across the bow of the judge who authorized the raid on the FLDS compound almost seven weeks ago. "I'm trying to get somebody to listen to me that I'm an innocent man. I haven't done any of these bad things that they say I've done, but nobody will listen," Jessop said. Jessop's case is special and complicated. His wife gave birth to a third child last week. She's been allowed to stay with her baby, but Judge Barbara Walther ordered the baby into state custody when he was just three hours old. "The judge is biased and prejudiced against my family, my client's family, and as a result he's not getting due process of law," said Patricia Matassarin, Jessop's attorney. But Jessop's motion to kick judge Walther off the case was overruled by another judge after a special morning hearing. Photo Gallery (21 pics) "That was a very uphill battle. It did expose, I think, some issues with regard to the way the hearings have been handled," said FLDS spokesman Rod Parker. Those hearings continue for more than 460 children, with vast confusion still over names, ages and relationships. "Challenging, but we're getting through it," said Deborah Keenum, attorney for 11 FLDS children. During the hearings, Child Protective Services (CPS) officials acknowledged another young mother was actually 18. That acknowledgment, following earlier admissions about four other young mothers, reduces the number of underage mothers in state custody from 31 to 26. The women now acknowledged to be adults will be released from state custody, but can stay with any children under 1 year old. The parents say they are being persecuted for their religion, which includes the belief that polygamy brings glorification in heaven. In one hearing, CPS officials acknowledged taking copies of the Book of Mormon from FLDS children. "And CPS is now going through those Books of Mormon, looking for marginal notes and censoring anything that they, quote, 'disapprove of or find inappropriate.' And I think that that is wrong," Parker said. CPS spokesman Patrick Crimmins says it may only be one case where authorities removed pictures and teachings of Warren Jeffs from some scriptures, then gave the books back. He says, "We obviously don't have any quarrel with the Book of Mormon, or the Bible, or the Koran." He says the problem is when children are reading the words of a convicted sex offender like Warren Jeffs. It's possible other parents will try to remove the judge, but it's probably a futile gesture. Many judges are involved now, and most authorities we've talked to say under Texas law, the state actions were legal. The question still being debated is whether they were reasonable. E-mail: hollenhorst@ksl.com E-mail: mrichards@ksl.com
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