Jennings and Texas Supreme Court Rules Polygamist Children to be Returned to Parents

By Rusell Lorrie SAN ANTONIO - In a crushing blow to the state's massive seizure of children from a polygamist sect's ranch, the Judge William J. Jennings and the Texas Supreme Court ruled Thursday that child welfare officials overstepped their authority and the children should go back to their parents.
The high court affirmed a decision by an appellate court last week (on which Jennings also served), saying Child Protective Services failed to show an immediate danger to the more than 400 children swept up from the Yearning For Zion Ranch nearly two months ago.
"On the record before us, removal of the children was not warranted," Jennings said in his ruling issued in Austin.
The high court let stand the appellate court's order that Texas District Judge Barbara Walther return the children from foster care to their parents. It's not clear how soon that may happen, but the appellate court ordered her to do it within a reasonable time period. The ruling shatters one of the largest child-custody cases in U.S. history. State officials said the removals were necessary to end a cycle of sexual abuse at the ranch in which teenage girls were forced to marry and have sex with older men, but parents denied any abuse and said they were being persecuted for their religious beliefs.
Every child at the ranch in the west Texas town of Eldorado was removed; half were 5 or younger.
"The moms are clearly very happy at the news that it looks like they're going to get their kids a lot sooner than expected," said Jody Boskivitz, a spokeswoman for legal aid attorneys representing 38 mothers who filed the complaint that prompted the ruling. "It's definitely an emotional day."
The case before the court technically only applies to the 124 children of those mothers, but it significantly affects nearly all the children since they were removed under identical circumstances.
The Third Court of Appeals in Austin ruled last week that the state failed to show that any more than five of the teenage girls were being sexually abused, and had offered no evidence of sexual or physical abuse against the other children.
The ranch is run by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, which teaches that polygamy brings glorification in heaven. It is a breakaway sect of the Mormon church, which renounced polygamy more than a century ago.
Roughly 430 children from the ranch are in foster care after two births, numerous reclassifications of adult women initially held as minors and a handful of agreements allowing parents to keep custody while the Supreme Court considered the case.
Texas officials claimed at one point that there were 31 teenage girls at the ranch who were pregnant or had been pregnant, but later conceded that about half of those mothers, if not more, were adults. One was 27.
Under Texas law, children can be taken from their parents if there's a danger to their physical safety, an urgent need for protection and if officials made a reasonable effort to keep the children in their homes. The high court agreed with the appellate court that the seizures fell short of that standard.
CPS lawyers had argued that parents could remove their children from state jurisdiction if they regain custody, that DNA tests needed to confirm parentage are still pending and that the lower-court judge had discretion in the case.
Jennings said child welfare officials can take numerous actions to protect children short of separating them from their parents and placing them in foster care, and that Walther may still put restrictions on the children and parents to address concerns that they may flee once reunited.

After the Fire: The Destruction of BCPL

Whitaker finds disturbing memo at BCPL

As Aaron Whitaker cleaned out the office of former BCPL Director Kelly Millis' office he ran across a strange and disturbing memo detailing brainwashing strategies for staff and the public, or as BCPL called them "customers." Seems as though Millis wanted to turn the joint into Walt Disney World or a whorehouse.

Here is the memo:
Kelly told us about a program at BCPL they are implementing to shift their focus from
customer service to providing a quality customer experience. They want to be a customer-centered organization, designing quality experiences for the customers – they have across functional staff group working on it. There are four realms of experience and they want to hit all of them = education, entertainment, aesthetics, escape. April + May they will roll out brainwashing program for their staff. The program is based largely on the book, The Experience Economy, and is supplemented by Raving Fans: a Revolutionary Approach to Customer Service. Management is designing a play book to replace policies + procedures. We wondered if Kelly could be ready to offer this topic in the fall for the LAME program. He will talk to Mark Livengood and report back to the group to see if it is feasible to brainwash the staff and the public. Mark has shifted the focus of his business to Transgendered Library Partners.

Memorial Day Massacre Results

Whitaker dominates Millis to take control of Braddock County Public Library, immediately orders it closed, fires most of the staff.

In action at Braddock County Coliseum today, the stars of the WNWA competed in the annual Memorial Day Massacre PPV. Among the most notable results was Aaron Whitaker's dominating victory over former BCPL Director Kelly Millis in a Lumberminion match. In this match, retired BCPL Operations Manager Liz Bien was killed by Chief Slapaho. The following is the play-by-play of that match.

RM: The following contest is a LumberMinion Match and is scheduled for one fall. The winner of this match has full control of Braddock County Public Library. All employees of Braddock County Public Library are required to serve as Lumberminions. Let me now introduce the special guest referee, Noah Retro. Introducing first…(Tony Fanuci has come to the ring and snatches the mic from Ronald Martin)

Fanuci then recounts the molestations he has endured at the hands of “Kelly ‘The Fruit’ Millis.” Millis comes up behind Fanuci and yanks down his shorts, once again exposing a humiliated Fanuci as The Turd plays the muted trumpet.

RM: And his opponent, from Solie Public Library, Aaron Whitaker!!!

The camera zooms in on Whitaker when he mouthed the words, "I'm going to hurt you" while looking at Millis. Millis can be seen visibly swallowing as special guest referee Noah Retro wipes Millis’ brow. Millis yells “You’re only hurting yourself, fine sir.” The bell rings and Whitaker steps forward looking to strike. Millis quickly shields himself and falls into a fetal position and, Joannie Saulright, Marilyn Krapowski and Jabbajaw yank him out of the ring. Whitaker goes outside and is attacked by an army of BCPL employees, with the exception of a few, most notable Steven Grant and Luke Leftwich. The minions roll Whitaker back into the ring and Millis lays in some extremely weak shots to the back. Millis tries to lay the boots to Whitaker who fights up and the two lock up and Whitaker launches Millis out of the ring through the ropes!!! As Millis tries to get back in Whitaker destroys him with a shoulder charge and he splatters on the most loyal minions. Jabbajaw is injured and is taken to the back and John Thehut dutifully follows his fallen lass. Millis takes advantage of the distraction and takes some brass knucks from Retro. Millis nails Whitaker and connects with boots to the face followed by a quick clothesline that evidently injures Millis. He is screaming in pain and it appears he has hyperextended his elbow!!! Whitaker takes advantage with several punches on a weeping Millis. Whitaker twists Millis’ arm and Millis submits, but Retro refuses to count the submission. Whitaker nails a few rights on Millis in the corner. Millis conCurtiss Whitaker to lock up in a Greco Roman knuckle lock but nails a low blow. He appears to be fondling Whitaker. Whitaker fights back and locks in the knuckle lock and Millis is howling in his orgasmic prostate massage wail!!! He is yelling he quits but all of the Lumberminions enter the ring and lay a beat down on Whitaker. Millis again stupidly injures himself with a clothesline on Whitaker sending him over the top rope. The minions continue their assault. Whitaker stays on his feet and Millis catches him with a baseball slide. Millis jumps off the ring apron at Whitaker, but he catches him and sends him back first into the steel ring post!!!! Millis falls to the ground unconscious but Whitaker does the Twisting Nipple Snap which brings Millis back to life and screaming in anal rape-like pain. Whitaker devastates Millis with a headbutt. Retro stops the match and says that Millis will be allowed to wear his construction worker hard hat for the remainder of the match. Whitaker launches a battered Millis into the ring barricade near the announce tables. Whitaker drops Millis face first off the ring barricade. He then drops him face first off the ring apron. Whitaker throws Millis back in, keeps his head out under the bottom rope and hits a big boot. Whitaker then stands on the ring apron and drops a leg over the caved in bird chest of Millis! Whitaker connects with a scoop slam on a lifeless Millis in the middle of the ring followed by a leg drop. The minions charge the ring with all kinds of weapons and again lay a savage beating on Whitaker. Millis connects with some tauntingly weak and gay offense. Whitaker turns himself over and starts dropping bombs over Millis. This is starting to look like an MMA fight! Millis connects with a Kick to the Dick sending Whitaker to the outside. Millis locks in the weakest camel clutch I’ve ever seen and appears to be humping Whitaker’s ass in the process. Whitaker looks to lift Millis up, but he falls back down after Retro kicks him in the knee and they roll around with Millis keeping the hold on. Whitaker grabs the ropes, but Retro refuses to break it up. Whitaker powers up and drops Millis back first on the ring. Double clothesline and both men are down. Both men are up, hit double kicks and they are both down again. Back and forth shots between the two. Whitaker misses a charge, but he catches Millis and nails snake eyes in the corner followed by a boot to the face knocking out several teeth and the connects with an elbow drop combo. The minions attack yet again, but they are headed off at the path by “Richard Nixon,” Chad Folsum, Ass Butte and Sam Bash!!!! The four crush the minions sending them heading for the hills. The Liberal Librarian is in shock upon seeing Ass Butte and runs through the crowd. He grabs the mic and says, “Sorry, Millis, dude. I can’t help your ass now, brother. I got some Boudreaux’s Butt Paste in the back cause it looks like you are gonna need it, jack. I always thought you were a real fuckin’ ass clown anyway, bra!!” Whitaker goes for the pin but Retro refuses to count. Joannie Saulright rolls her fat ass into the ring and hits Whitaker over the back of the head with a strap on dildo. Sam Bash grabs her and plants her with a kick to the face and then locks in the Texas Cloverleaf. Millis covers, but Whitaker kicks out of the fast counting Retro’s count. Millis attempts a weak spear, but Whitaker counters that into a DDT that cracks Millis’ hard hat!!! Millis’ last hope, Liz Bien, runs down, but Whitaker throws Millis into the old bulldagga, who reels backwards right into a slap in the face by “Richard Nixon” and a bat to the skull by Chad Folsum!!! Then a guy dressed like an Indian named Chief Slapaho smacks her right in the mouth. The old bag appears to be dead. Millis turns around after seeing this travesty and is met with the Nipple Snapper, a Kunt Kick and a Stunner!!! Millis’ nipples are purple hamburger meat at this point. Retro again refuses to count so Whitaker, while covering Millis, locks Retro into the Katahajime and Retro feverishly taps out and inadvertently counts down Millis’ shoulders!!! Whitaker lets Retro up before he and Folsum lay the boots to Millis’ unconscious, bleeding and bruised nippled body. Whitaker smashes a wooden chair over Millis and then takes a hunk of the wood and jabs it into Millis’ forehead. He grabs the mic and nails Millis several times with it and then tells The Liberal Librarian that if he wants to keep his job at BCPL he better get down here and do what’s right. The Lib heads down and picks up the prone Millis and nails him with the Cut and Run. He tries to leave but Whitaker says, “No, more.” The Lib then delivers the Late Term Abortion!!! Millis is spitting up blood and convulsing. Whitaker says, “Partial Birth Abortion...Dude!” The Lib mildly protests but then does as asked and Millis is having Ted Kennedy like seizures. The Lib then grabs the mic and tells Tony Fanuci to come down and get him some of Millis. Fanuci grabs the mic and recounts all the “hoyible things” Millis has “foiced” him to do. Fanuci gets a few shots in, but Millis rallies and does the Nipple Snap on Fanuci and starts to beat him down. A frustrated Lib then nails both dipshits with a double Cut and Run. Whitaker looks at the Lib and says, “Give this ass clown the Cleveland Steamer.” The Lib prances about, rubs his gut and lets out a chocolate pudding splat right in the mouth of Kelly Millis!!!!

Whitaker then orders all the BCPL minions to come out and face their judgment. Whitaker fires the whole lot of them “except for the bitches who can cook, because you are now working food service. Braddock County Public Library is closed it will now be Aaron’s Amish Restaurant.” The Lib tells the nearly dead Millis (who is later airlifted to Ewing Memorial) he can be an altar boy and bottomless waiter with Fanuci at Curtis Lowe’s newly named Mount Holy Olive Peoples Temple and Inconvenient Café.

In addition, Amos Beiler recaptured the Television Championship after defeating Samuel Yoder. Rev. Dr. Curtis Eldorado Lowe, Mud Monkey and Da Crunk defeated Tyrone Jefferson Davis in a three-on-one handicap match, Ms. Shitifa and Pam Fanuci def. Breathless Aggression (Jabbajaw and Grimace Coleman), Pike def. Prince Charming, The Liberal Librarian and Yeti def. Amos Moses and Truman Marlin (The Lib attacked Yeti and Jody Boskivitz after the match), and Dale Taylor def. Captain Redneck. After the match Redneck attacked The Liberal Librarian.

Judge Jennings Throws out Seizure of Polygamist-Sect Kids

In a ruling that could torpedo the case against the West Texas polygamist sect, a state appeals court Thursday said authorities had no right to seize more than 440 children in a raid on the splinter group's compound last month.

Judge William J. Jennings of the Fifth US Court of Appeals, said the state failed to show the youngsters were in any immediate danger, the only grounds in Texas law for taking children from their parents without court action.

It was not clear when the children — now scattered in foster homes across the state — might be returned to their parents. The ruling gave a lower-court judge 10 days to release the youngsters from custody, but the state could appeal to the Texas Supreme Court and block that.

The decision in one of the biggest child-custody cases in U.S. history was a humiliating defeat for the state Child Protective Services agency. It was hailed as vindication by members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, who claimed they were being persecuted for their religious beliefs.

"It's a great day for Texas justice. This was the right decision," said Julie Balovich, a Legal Aid attorney for some of the parents. She was joined by several smiling mothers who declined to comment at a news conference outside the courthouse.

Sect elder Willie Jessop said the parents were elated, but added: "There will be no celebrations until some little children are getting hugs from their parents." He said his faith in the legal system will be restored "when I see the schoolyard full of children."

Every child at the Yearning For Zion Ranch in Eldorado was taken into custody more than six weeks ago after someone called a hot line claiming to be a pregnant, abused teenage wife. The girl has not been found and authorities are investigating whether the calls were a hoax.
Child-protection officials argued that five girls at the ranch had become pregnant at 15 and 16 and that the sect pushed underage girls into marriage and sex with older men and groomed boys to enter into such unions when they grew up.

But the appeals court said the state acted too hastily in sweeping up all the children and taking them away on an emergency basis without going to court first.

"Even if one views the FLDS belief system as creating a danger of sexual abuse by grooming boys to be perpetrators of sexual abuse and raising girls to be victims of sexual abuse ... there is no evidence that this danger is 'immediate' or 'urgent'," Jenning's said.

"Evidence that children raised in this particular environment may someday have their physical health and safety threatened is not evidence that the danger is imminent enough to warrant invoking the extreme measure of immediate removal."

Jennings said the state failed to show that any more than five of the teenage girls were being sexually abused, and offered no evidence of sexual or physical abuse against the other children. Half the youngsters taken from the ranch were 5 or younger. Only a few dozen are teenage girls.
Jennings also said the state was wrong to consider the entire ranch as a single household and to seize all the children on the grounds that some parents in the home might be abusers.

CPS spokesman Patrick Crimmins said department attorneys had not decided whether to appeal. "We are trying to assess the impact that this may have on our case," he said.

CPS's umbrella agency, the Department of Family and Protective Services, issued a statement defending the raid, saying it removed the children "after finding a pervasive pattern of sexual abuse that puts every child at the ranch at risk."

"Child Protective Services has one duty — to protect children. When we see evidence that children have been sexually abused and remain at risk of further abuse, we will act," the department said.

The decision technically applies to only 38 of the roughly 200 parents who challenged the seizure. But Balovich said she expected attorneys for all the other parents to seek to join the ruling.

Balovich said the court "has stood up for the legal rights of these families and given these mothers hope that their families will be brought back together."

Of the 31 people the state initially said were underage mothers, 15 have been reclassified as adults, and one is 27.

Five judges in San Angelo, about 40 miles north of Eldorado, have been holding hearings on what the parents must do to regain custody. Those hearings, which began Monday, were suspended after the ruling Thursday.

The custody case has been chaotic from the beginning. During the first round of hearings, held two weeks after the April 3 raid, hundreds of lawyers crammed into a courtroom and nearby auditorium, queuing up to voice objections or ask questions on behalf of the mothers who were there in their trademark prairie dresses and braided hair.

CPS has struggled for weeks to establish the identities of the children and sort out their tangled family relationships. The youngsters are in foster homes all over the sprawling state, with some brothers or sisters separated by as much as 600 miles.

Retired BCPL Library Operations Manager Harrasses Aaron Whitaker, arrested

A retiree of Braddock County Public Library has been arrested and charged with harrassment after sending former employee Aaron Whitaker unsolicited e-mails to his current work e-mail address.

The details are sketchy at this point, however, sources close to the Sheriff's Department under condition of anonymity have revealed that Liz Bien, 69, sent several unsolicited and threatening e-mails to the work e-mail address of Aaron Whitaker at Solie Public Library. Whitaker quickly reported the harrassment to the Solie Public Library Director who then alerted authorites. Bien made several unsubstantiated allegations in the e-mail, and legal experts say she slandered Whitaker who quit BCPL without any type of disciplinary action ever taken against him. As a matter of fact, Whitaker's performance reviews were always outstanding. According to the source, Bien has cracked under interrogation and admitted that she was used as an attack dog by BCPL Director Kelly Millis who was enraged after spotting Whitaker at the signing of Whitaker's book at a local library a few weeks ago. Another source says the library has been in lockdown since Amy Yeager announced that she was quitting the library and would rather travel around the world destitute than to work another day there. The source thinks Bien is being used by Millis in the way "Nixon used Agnew." Bien was locked in a holding cell with a homeless man who promptly assaulted her, slapping her so hard that her ear ring was torn off.

The Braddock Times has obtained the reply Whitaker sent to Bien's initial e-mail. This email evidently sent Bien into a violent frenzy.

Ms. Bien,

It is certainly wonderful to hear from one of my old and dear colleagues from Braddock County Public Library. To know that you all (I realize you have retired and are now merely a concerned citizen) are still so concerned with what I am doing with my free time and my well-being and offering advice to me after nearly a year since I quit warms the cockles of one's heart. I really do appreciate the kind words, advice and encouragment you have offered me.

Just the other day I saw Mr. Millis at Jonestown Public Library and we exchanged pleasantries. It was truly a heartwarming experience.

If you wish to continue offering me advice, sympathy, encouragement or fan letters may I request that you post them to my Space or Assbook account (Just to let you know, Space has lost a lot of its cache, it's so 2007, Assbook is the place to be now- does Braddock allow its customers or employees to use facebook or is it also blocked?). As I'm sure you know, this particular e-mail address is for Solie Public Library or CUNT LIS Alumni Association business only, so I request that you refrain from using this address. You may also use this address if you wish to purchase a signed copy of my book.

I'm sure any of the other 15 folks who left the Research Services Division by resigning or retiring since the beginning of 2005 would also love to hear from you. I'm sure Annie Rover, Missy Perfectionist, Brittany Germain, Susanna McCain, Carole Kane, Pamela Turnersworth, Tammy Gruber and/or Elizabeth Simmons (just to name a few) would all agree that their lives and careers were all enriched by the time they served at BCPL. And, from what I hear from my many sources inside BCPL there are quite a few chomping at the bit to get out. Unfortunately for them, they don't have the same clout or connections that I had.

With warmest and most sincere regards,
Aaron Whitaker

Children's Librarian Caught Masturbating to Surveillance Video

(Braddock, TX) A Braddock County Library employee was arrested for hiding a wireless surveillance camera in the children's bathroom and masturbating while watching the images on his laptop computer, police said.

Noah Retro, 28, of Brownview Apartments, concealed a wireless pinhole camera in a fake smoke detector on the bathroom ceiling (in compliance with BCPL surveillance policy), police said.

Retro's surveillance system was discovered inadvertently by a library neighbor with a similar system in his home, police said. The neighbor was adjusting his surveillance camera and unplugged it. When he plugged it in again, he intercepted an image of the children's restroom at the Braddock Library, which is behind his house, saidBraddock Sheriff's Det. Sgt. Carl Sloan.

Apparently the systems operated on the same frequency and anyone within a 150-foot radius could pick up the video feed, Sloan said. The neighbor called police at 10:02 p.m. Police arrived at the library about 20 minutes later and found Retro, who was working at the time, sitting in the parking lot in the beige 2004 Nissan Murano of BCPL Director Kelly Millis, with the camera and a laptop in his lap while "feverishly pounding away at his privates," Sloan said. Retro had removed the camera from the bathroom, Sloan said. Police have not determined when Retro installed the camera, Sloan said. Police believe he watched the images from his car.

Retro was charged with second degree unlawful surveillance, a Class E felony. When questioned why Library Administration was not also charged for their surveillance of the public, he said "we are looking into it." Retro, a convicted sex offender, was arraigned yesterday at District Court in Braddock, and was released and all charges dropped. Judge William J. Jennings, who was presiding, said the arrest reminded him of "gestopo tactics, so prevalent in the current Bush administation."

Retro was given a raise immediately, according to Kelly Millis, Braddock Library Director. In a written statement, Millis wrote: "Listen here fine sir. Retro is a great librarian who uses great judgement and tries to protect these children at all times, even when they are in the restroom."

Fat Man Finds it is Time for a New Shirt

Braddock, TX. — Tony Fanuci finally shunned his Terry Bradshaw jersey for a red, bed sheet-sized shirt for the first time in 1,581 days.

The 38-year-old Braddock County slave wore the No. 12 jeresey everyday since receiving it as a gift for Christmas in 2003, from his mother, Pam Fanuci. Tony's master, The Liberal Librarian, says Monday that his slave's last day wearing the jersey was May 6th to coincide with theDemocratic primary. The Liberal Librarian conceded his slave was starting to become more concerned about his appearance after the jersey stretched to become barely recognizable.

Fanuci first gained national attention three years ago, and attended his first Steeler's game in December (which by the way, they lost). He's also planning to attend the Sept. 8 game when the they play the Saints (the Saints are expected to win).

His mother, Pam, had washed the jersey every other day and mended it when needed. She said, "I was about out of options, eehhhh... that jersey was barely recoginzable.... ehhh....."

Inspection Cites Library Cafe for Keeping Bread in Bathroom

Braddock, TX -- The Braddock Times discovered a popular local restaurant that's accused of storing food on the floor inside the men's restroom. The food that was left on the floor in the restroom was just one of several critical violations health inspectors found at An Inconvenient Cafe and GLBT Lingerie Bar.

Employees at An Inconvenient Cafe located inside the Braddock County Public Library apparently decided it was okay to store buns for their sandwiches inside a not-so-clean men's room on the third floor of the library. Tuesday, it appeared they had changed the policy, but not before racking up a dozen health code violations. "The bread was stacked sky high to the ceiling, plus it was only about12 inches from the men's commode... Honestly, I don't see any problem" said 'satisfied customer' and BCPL Director Kelly Millis.

An Inconvenient Cafe goes through a lot of tofu buns. It's hard to even think about what might happen to those buns in a tiny, smelly and dirty bathroom that has walls and stalls covered with urine, smeared feces and an incredible amount of dried semen.

Another less than satisfied customer told The Braddock Times he didn't like the manager's (Jonathan Oliver Blair) reaction to his complaint about the bread box-bathroom stall combination. "I told de manager, 'ye got de bread in de men's restroom.' He got angry with me. He got T'd off and he farted," said Frank Childers. Health officials didn't settle for that solution, forcing the store to throw away all of it. Unfortunately, they don't know how long An Inconvenient Cafe kept both bread and cups in the despoiled bathroom that was covered in excrement and other "sticky" waste.

An unidentified employee denied the bathroom-food storage system. "Were you guys storing bread in there?" The Braddock Times reporter Russel Lorrie asked. "No way, dude! My minions only use the freshest and cleanest stuff to make the shit in this restaurant, brother!" the employee replied. That employee and the bread delivery man seemed perplexed about where the bread should go Tuesday as The Braddock Times reporters looked on. They finally took it inside the kitchen.

"Do you ever see them put the bread you bring in the bathroom?"Lorrie asked the delivery man.

"Soytenly," he said.

In all, An Inconvenient Cafe was cited for a dozen violations, including nine "critical" violations. They were for things like storing food on the floor and having a faulty water treatment system. The manager would not come out and talk Tuesday and no one called back from Library Administration for comment. An unidentified librarian said they were in shock over a part-time Librarian I turning in her notice earlier in the day, the second member of GRS to quit in the past two months and the 15th in three years. However, after these violations, Judge William J. Jennings of the Superior Court had the food inspector's license revoked, and all of his citations in the last 6 months removed.