Obtaining Proper Outcomes in Texas

04/20/2008

Paul Munnis


Our nation is rightly shocked and suspicious where the FLDS situation in Texas is concerned. The situation is confusing, the state is dealing with a lot of people and many are wondering how anything can come out just.

I think we have to focus on what we would like to see as an outcome of all of this accusation and charges and then see if the State is succeeding in obtaining that outcome. We are dealing with women who are alleged to have been brainwashed and placed into involuntary sexual servitude, children who it is said were sexually molested, males that are painted as sexual predators, and a lot of illegal virtual marriages which are not the same as real marriages.

What we know is that the women are mothers, the fathers have an obligation to provide financial support for their children, the children have a right to grow up without being enslaved, and the women have a right to a future for themselves and their children. We also know that ther e are criminal charges of rape, abuse, and illegal sexual congress involved.

So now we can think about outcomes that we think would be just outcomes.

For the polygamous organization we want it disbanded, outlawed and if any more such sects arise they too must be disbanded and justice administered to the victims.

For the children we want them to be able to return to live with their mothers. If they have been sexually abused we want psychological council. We want them to grow up happy, healthy and to become productive citizens. We want them educated so they can take their place in society with confidence. We want them to be able to put this behind them and move on.

For the women we want them and their children reunited where it is reasonable to do so. We want child support for the unwed mothers. If they seek a valid and legal marriage with one or more of the men then we hope that works out for them. We want them to receive assistance from the State of Texas as they set out to become the sole support of their children. The kinds of assistance that we think is needed are: financial support, job training, job opportunities, living assistance and psychological help.

For the men, we think that when rape, child molestation, and abuse can be proven that the full extent of the law should be visited upon them.

There appear to be a lot of victims here and the first thing we want is the end of victimization and restoration of human dignity. Beyond that we want these people to become productive and happy citizens of America.

We need to show love and compassion for the victims and social repair wherever possible.

To achieve these goals the State is going to have to review each case individually, work with Social Services to assure that the victims are being treated fairly, make available to the victims the full programmatic range of social services, and do this with speed and urgency to not prolong the suffering of the victims and the innocent.

A crowded justice system is going to get more crowded and that is too bad. Maybe some way of dividing the cases into valid subsets can be crafted and the lawyers for the individual allowed to file and to argue on behalf of the individual whom they represent and in the context of their clients’ membership in the sub-group.

I am thinking there may be an opportunity for the State of Texas to do a trial en masse and in parallel using separate judges and separate juries, one judge and jury per valid subset. What a lawyer would then do is to concentrate upon whether or not their client belongs in that sub-group and what defense and pleas are relevant for their client in terms of the charges associated with such membership. The State would empanel a jury, each person in the sub-group would have a chance to have their case heard, and the jury would find for or against the State or the individual according to the charges associated with a given sub-group. At the end, a given sub-group would have judgments for each person within that sub-group.

Examples of valid subgroups might be:

• Children molested,


• Children abused,


• Women molested,


• Women abused.


• Men who were sexual predators,


• Men who were child abusers,


• Men who abused women;


• Men who raped women and children,


• Men who practiced polygamy in violation of State laws,


• Women who practiced polygamy in violation of State laws willingly,


• Women who were forced into practicing polygamy against their will,


• Mothers who are fit mothers;


• Mothers who are unfit mothers,


• Other sub-groups as appropriate.

Note that some people could have membership in more than one subgroup. And when a disposition is made for a sub-group then people will be reviewed individually and sentenced or compensated accordingly.

A proper disposition for each group must be sought.

It’s a big logistical effort but in this age of computers, a trained judiciary, and trained Social Workers, then there is no reason that justice cannot be accomplished with both accuracy and dignity.

The public will have to allow the justice system time to get organized for this huge task.