- Barbara Walther
Barbara Cohen Walther is an American judge in 51st District Court of
Texas who ordered the removal of hundreds of children from theYFZ Ranch in Texas in a April 2008 raid because of suspected child abuse. The Texas 3rd Court of Appeals later ruled two separate opinions that Walther had abused her discretion in allowing CPS to remove the children of some mothers. [ [http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202421803660 Texas Supreme Court Nixes Removal of Children From Polygamists' Ranch John Council Texas Lawyer May 30, 2008] ]Judge Walther is a graduate of
Southern Methodist University School of Law. She graduated in May 1977. [ [http://www.texasbar.com/Template.cfm?Section=Member_Directory&template=/Customsource/MemberDirectory/MemberDirectoryDetail.cfm&ContactID=190998] ]Identification
During custody hearings, Walther refused to accept birth certificates offered by FLDS women as proof of their age or their status as a parent, accepting CPS determinations that "disputed minors" were underage. Most were later determined by CPS to be adults, married or both. [ [http://www.sltrib.com/polygamy/ci_9625046 Utah birth records sought in probe of FLDS couples' ages Salt Lake Tribune 6/19/2008] ]
Nursing mothers
Attorneys for the women asked the judge to consider letting nursing mothers remain with their children after negotiations with CPS on the issue stalled. They asked the judge to let the mothers stay until DNA results were in, likely to take up to 40 days. Walther acknowledged the nutritional and bonding benefits of breast-feeding. "But every day in this country, we have mothers who go back to work after six weeks of maternity leave," she said. "The court has made a determination that the environment those children were in was not safe," said Walther, adding that there is a shortage of suitable placements for infants in Texas.
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