Your Children Belong to Us

I thought I’d say a few words about the Mormon compound raided in Texas by Big Brother’s jack-booted thugs.

No one should have his (or her) children snatched from his (or her) custody on the basis of an unsubstantiated, anonymous phone call. I expect that brand of behavior from the defunct U.S.S.R., not the U.S.A. Such information may serve as a catalyst for an investigation, but it isn’t evidence, in and of itself. Anyone can call a tip line and say anything.

Constitutionally and legally speaking, Americans are innocent until proven guilty--in theory, at least.

If the government had indisputable evidence of abuse in this scenario, I believe we’d be aware of it, by now. That nothing more compelling than an anonymous tip has been offered as a rationale for this mockery of justice and spittle on the God-given rights of Americans indicates that no more damning evidence exists. The government isn’t in the habit of incriminating itself for wrongdoing, when it has the moral high ground, and can demonstrate the fact beyond doubt. That it has not done so tells me all I need to know about its moral authority, in this particular situation.

At Vox’s blog, I had an exchange with a commenter a few days ago who goes by the name “Former Children’s Social Worker”:


Wes: When the authorities received the initial phone call, how hard would it have been to trace the call & determine if it was, indeed, coming from the compound?

After the trace, how hard would it have been to match the name the caller gave them w/ the residence from which the call came?

If they determined that the name w/ whom the phone was registered didn't match the name given, & that it came from a location outside the compound, how did they have probable cause to raid the FLDS residence?

Why wasn't the caller visited & questioned by the police, prior to raiding & taking children?


Fmr. Children’s Social Worker: It's usually the responsibility of State and County Welfare Agencies to investigate child-abuse claims. While criminal charges can be filed, most child abuse and neglect is classified as a civil, Welfare & Dependency matter. It's assigned to social workers to investigate such claims.

Why don't social workers visit and question referring callers? Most jurisdictions are set up so that people can anonymously report abuse, under the assumption that, while such a system can itself be abused, if it finds real situations of abuse or neglect it was worth it.

Even if a person leaves their name and contact information, the law and the policy of most welfare agencies requires the workers to investigate most every claim they get.


Wes: I'm not so much concerned about which governmental bureaucracy does the investigating as I am that the investigation occurs prior to children being yanked from their parents' custody.

In this particular case, we're not even sure that the call came from inside the compound, from a member of the FLDS. In fact, the available evidence suggests otherwise. Nor are we sure that abuse actually happened.

Most jurisdictions are set up so that people can anonymously report abuse, under the assumption that, while such a system can itself be abused, if it finds real situations of abuse or neglect it was worth it.

Which is a recipe for present & future tyranny, since anyone can make a phone call and claim anything. This is akin to saying: "If the cop pulled you over w/out probable cause, & he roughed you up because you asked why you were stopped, & he searched your vehicle w/out a warrant or your permission--no harm, no foul, as long as he found a loaded firearm in the trunk."

Another example of this brand of mentality is the person who says: "Banning all guns is worth it, if it saves just one life."

Let's call it what it is: an Anti-freedom Initiative.

Even if a person leaves their name and contact information, the law and the policy of most welfare agencies requires the workers to investigate most every claim they get.

The police have methods of retrieving names & contact info, whether the person provides it, or not. I would think that questioning the accuser in person prior to a raid on the accused's residence would be minimal standard operating procedure. Or at least, it certainly should be.



*****


I’m not going to post his response, as it is long and entails more excuse-making on the government's behalf. However, if you’re interested in reading the rest, you can find it here.

Investigation of the tip-off carried out after the fact suggest the call upon which the government rests its case was a hoax.

Had the authorities conducted this investigation prior to raiding the Zion Ranch, as I said they should have done, justification for such an invasion would've evaporated.

It seems obvious to me that the government officials involved in this case never cared about their victims' rights--or the existence of evidence--in the first place. As to their unstated, genuine motives, they're open to speculation. One thing's for sure: now that these kids are in Big Brother's custody and out of the hands of those filthy separatists, we needn't be concerned about them having their heads filled with silly, outdated notions, like a healthy scepticism toward government, or the asinine fantasy that family is paramount.