SAN ANGELO, Texas - For a controversial polygamous sect, a nearly 10-year standoff with government authorities over marriage practices has come to this: a prophet in prison. Property seized. The prospect of a generation of children taken away.
   The ramifications of a Texas judge's ruling that 416 children taken from the sect's YFZ Ranch would remain in temporary state custody have ignited a debate about the intertwining of religious liberty, parental rights and child protection.

..While none argue that abuse should go unchecked, some experts said Walther's sweeping ruling may have handed fundamentalist Mormons who believe in plural marriage a case capable of testing the ban on polygamy at the U.S. Supreme Court level.
    “This is Loving v. Virginia meets Lawrence v. Texas meets Reynolds v. U.S.,” said Firmage. Those cases, all heard by the U.S. Supreme Court, set precedents for government regulation of adult relationships.
  Loving dealt with interracial marriage, Lawrence with homosexual relationships and Reynolds banned polygamy. The last case, heard by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1890, has never been directly challenged.