The judge in the polygamy sect child abuse custody hearing is going to have to get a much tighter grip on her courtroom in a hurry. Due to the sheer number of parties, attorneys and children and the novelty of some of the issues, the first day of the hearings was a circus:
SAN ANGELO, Texas (AP) - A court hearing to decide the fate of the 416 children swept up in a raid on a West Texas polygamist sect descended into farce Thursday, with hundreds of lawyers in two packed buildings shouting objections and the judge struggling to maintain order.
The case - clearly one of the biggest, most convoluted child-custody hearings in U.S. history - presented an extraordinary spectacle: big-city lawyers in suits and mothers in 19th-century, pioneer-style dresses, all packed into a courtroom and a nearby auditorium connected by video.
At issue was an attempt by the state of Texas to strip the parents of custody and place the children in foster homes because of evidence they were being physically and sexually abused by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, a renegade Mormon splinter group suspected of forcing underage girls into marriage with older men.
As many feared, the proceedings turned into something of a circus - and a painfully slow one.
By late afternoon only two witnesses had testified, and both only to lay the foundation for documents to be admitted. One witness, a state trooper, was cross-examined by dozens of attorneys, each of them asking the same question on behalf of a child or parent.
As the afternoon dragged on, no decisions had been made on the fate of any of the youngsters.
I don't know the reputation of the judge handling the hearings, Barbara Walther, but early reports are that she has her hands full:
Texas District Judge Barbara Walther struggled to keep order as she faced 100 lawyers in her 80-year-old Tom Green County courtroom and several hundred more participating over a grainy video feed from an ornate City Hall auditorium two blocks away.
The hearing disintegrated quickly into a barrage of shouted objections and attempts to file motions, with lawyers for the children objecting to objections made by the parents' attorneys. When the judge sustained an objection to the prolonged questioning of the state trooper, the lawyers cheered.
Upon another objection about the proper admission of medical records of the children, the judge threw up her hands.
"I assume most of you want to make the same objection. Can I have a universal, 'Yes, Judge'?" she said.
In both buildings, the hundreds of lawyers stood and responded in unison: "Yes, Judge."
But she added to the chaos as well.
Walther refused to put medical records and other evidence in electronic form, which could be e-mailed among the lawyers, because it contained personal information. A courier had to run from the courthouse to the auditorium delivering one document at a time.
"We're going to handle this the best we can, one client at a time," Walther said.
Judge Walther is going to have to implement complex litigation procedures, stiffen her spine, and take firm control of her courtroom. An informal, collegial style can works beautifully when one set of parents at at a time is appearing in children's court, but this hearing involving 416 children is a completely different animal.
Oral objections from "hundreds of lawyers" responding in unison is not something any court reporter on earth can accurately transcribe -- at least, not with the names of the attorneys identified. The record wil be a mess. This sort of thing may create multiple procedural grounds for appealing any adverse ruling.
At this point, complexity and confusion work in favor of the polygamist parents. What the children need, however, is a prompt, fair ruling that takes their best interests into account, whether their bests interests are to remain in foster care or to be returned to their parents. Judge Walther is going to need not only a spine of steel, but also the wisdom of Solomon, multiplied by 416.
By the way, I note one oddity in the photographs of the hearing so far. I see lots of mothers in their long skirts, but few men. Is that because reporters are focusing on the mothers for the human interest angle, or are the polygamist parents keeping most of the men who perpetrated the sexual abuse on children away from court and away from the cameras in order to put the most sympathetic spin on their case?
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