The approaching April 3 anniversary of the raid on the Yearning for Zion Ranch provides a convenient opportunity to step back and assess what, if anything, was learned from the sweeping law enforcement action on the polygamist sect in a West Texas commune. Based on an anonymous outcry and opinions about the sect's belief system, authorities seized hundreds of children and placed them in the state foster care system. The unprecidented action overloaded the state's child welfare system and cost an estimated $14 million. The Texas Supreme Court later reversed after action, and accusations that the bulk of the children were in danger were never substantiated. Family attorney Betsy Branch of McCurley Orsinger McCurley Nelson & Downing says that while some of the teenage girls were abused and have been rightly removed from the environment, the rush to seize all of the children was premature. "The State had maintained that the ‘pervasive belief system' at the Ranch presented a danger to the children," says Branch, who represented several of the children on a pro bono basis. "The Supreme Court, however, concluded that the rush to remove all of the children was unwarranted based upon the evidence presented at the emergency hearing. In order to ensure the welfare of the children during the investigation, the Court instead directed the trial court to available statutory protections in lieu of placing them in foster care." To interview Ms. Branch, contact Scott Holcomb at 800-559-4534 or scott@androvett.com.