Appeals court ruling applies to 48 mothers from polygamist sect:
A state appellate court ruled Thursday that child welfare officials had no right to seize hundreds of children from a polygamist sect’s ranch on April 3.
It was unclear how many children were affected by the ruling. The state took 464 children into custody, but Thursday’s ruling directly applied to the children of 48 sect mothers represented by the Texas Rio Grande Legal Aide, said Cynthia Martinez of the agency.
The Third Court of Appeals in Austin ruled that the grounds for removing the children were “legally and factually insufficient” under Texas law. The ruling did not immediately order the return of the children.