I knew it would be a short one, but two minutes? That’s the time it took to conduct the open court hearing for polygamous church leader Warren S. Jeffs today. The hearing was delayed about 45 minutes while attorneys met in chambers with 3rd District Judge Terry Christiansen, where they negotiated several things we then [...]

A Utah judge on Friday signed a warrant for the arrest of polygamous church leader Warren S. Jeffs on the Texas charges and set his initial appearance for Aug. 26. There is no bail for Jeffs. 08-20-10 Judge ROBERT ADKINS assigned. 08-20-10 Filed: Information 08-20-10 Case filed 08-20-10 Filed: From an Information. 08-20-10 Judge TERRY [...]

I’ve been busy this morning at a court hearing, so pardon the delay. Here is today’s story about Utah Gov. Gary Herbert signing off on the extradition paperwork for FLDS church leader Warren S. Jeffs: Herbert signs an extradition warrant for Jeffs By Brooke Adams Utah Gov. Gary Herbert Tuesday evening signed an extradition warrant [...]

Texas newspapers report that a Schleicher County jury has sentenced FLDS member Abram Harker Jeffs to 17 years in prison after convicting him earlier this week of sexual assault of a child. He is the sixth man to be convicted following the 2008 investigation at the sect’s Yearning For Zion Ranch in Eldorado. Six more [...]

. . . The Texas criminal trials! That’s what a majority of voters in my online poll said they were most interested in following in the news. Here’s the reality: My newspaper can’t afford to send me to Texas for every trial and there is no credible way to follow the story from afar on [...]

Here is the the newest filing in Arizona. Mohave County Attorney Matt Smith says he won’t use any evidence from Texas, so no need for a suppression hearing.

I just spoke with Bill Habern, a Texas attorney whose specialty is prison and parole issues. I had tried to contact him before the jury handed out a sentence for Raymond Merril Jessop about average sentence lengths, etc. Nonetheless, I learned some interesting things in speaking Mr. Habern and thought I would share the interview [...]

I left San Angelo at 6:30 to make my way to Midland and, some hours from now, home. I have been away for 18 days. Along the way I passed fields of cotton — but also windmills along the way. The view:

Cotton. What is it all about? httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0AT8XahSQ0

Martin Guggenheim of New York University’s School of Law has written an article in the Houston Law Review about the Texas FLDS raid. It is titled “Texas Polygamy and Child Welfare.” Here is the abstract: This article explains why the child welfare process was used in the 2008 San Angelo, Texas raid on the FLDS [...]