Amish Controversies

Amish Buggy Light Law Violators Go To Jail In April

Amish Buggy Light Law Violators Go To Jail In April

The Amish here told the judge they prefer jail to paying fines for violating Ohio’s new buggy lighting law. That might seem surprising. But it’s not, if you’ve paid attention to how these things go with Swartzentruber Amish. From Ashland Source: ASHLAND — A group of eight Amish people refused to pay their fines for their violations of Ohio’s new buggy law in a fines and…

Residents Speak Out: No Liquor Store In Shipshewana

Residents Speak Out: No Liquor Store In Shipshewana

A request to open a liquor store in the middle of Shipshewana, Indiana, the best-known town in the country’s third-largest Amish community, was rejected Thursday at a meeting of the LaGrange County Alcohol Beverage Commission. From kpcnews.com: ABC meetings are typically somewhat quiet and last in general only a few minutes, but Thursday’s meeting lasted nearly three hours as nearly 100 Shipshewana residents packed into…

Judge Discusses Prison For Amish After New Citations; Letter from Amishman Harvey Hostetler

Judge Discusses Prison For Amish After New Citations; Letter from Amishman Harvey Hostetler

Nine more Amish people in Ashland County, including two women, have been cited following citations for violating Ohio’s new flashing buggy light law. The nine pleaded “no contest” on Tuesday. Prison is already being discussed. From ashlandsource.com: Judge Good said he understands the argument. But he had a question for Mahlon J. Swartzentruber, who confirmed to Good on Tuesday that he is a leader within…

Amish in Other Ohio Counties Also Rejecting Buggy Light Law. What About a Re-do?

Amish in Other Ohio Counties Also Rejecting Buggy Light Law. What About a Re-do?

Two weeks ago we learned of the first group of Amish cited for not adhering to the new Ohio buggy light law. And now, a second unsurprising report from another part of the state. Amish in two other Ohio counties have been cited for failure to comply with the law: ST. CLAIRSVILLE — A new law requiring Amish buggies and other animal-drawn vehicles to be…

As Expected: Amish Cited For Buggy Light Violations, Refuse To Pay Fines

There’s nothing surprising about this. Well, maybe it is surprising to Representatives Scott Wiggam and Darrell Kick, creators of the new law requiring flashing lights on all horse-drawn vehicles in the state of Ohio. But if they had bothered to actually dig deep into this issue regarding the group it would predictably most effect (Swartzentruber Amish), it might not be so surprising. My suspicion is…

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Amish Pet Food Company Sales Shut Down By Judicial Order

There’s a dispute ongoing between two raw pet food companies with ties to one another. Answers is the name of the established company; Amish farmers in PA have supplied it with raw materials for its foods for years. Kure is the upstart brand founded by some of those same Amish suppliers last year. Apparently two sisters who worked for Answers left the company and began…

Lancaster Amish Organic Farmer Must Pay $250,000, Faces Possible Jail Time For Food Violations

Lancaster Amish Organic Farmer Must Pay $250,000, Faces Possible Jail Time For Food Violations

A Lancaster County Amish farmer faces hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines and potential jail time for repeated violations of food safety laws. Miller’s Organic Farm, owned by an Amos Miller in Bird-in-Hand, has been described as “tangling with federal authorities for several years over its food handling practices” in this report by Fox43: U.S. District Judge Edward G. Smith, Jr. found Amos Miller…

Amish-Raised Neighbor Reacts To Supreme Court Decision: “Devastated”

Lizzy Hershberger lives in the same community as the Fillmore County, Minnesota Amish group who won an appeal case at the Supreme Court last week. She is concerned over wastewater leaking into the ground in her area. Hershberger said that she was “devastated that this is the outcome.” This caught my attention as I believe this is the first opposition – or at least strong…

Supreme Court Sides With Amish In Gray Water Case

The Amish plaintiffs appealed this case to the Supreme Court back in March (if you’re new to this story, here’s a summary of the issue, and some further explanation shared with us by expert witness Karen Johnson-Weiner). At the time, it was unclear whether it would even be heard. And it seemed unlikely, as the Supreme Court only hears 100 to 150 of the roughly…

Adams County: Amish Must Connect To Sewer System. Amish Respond With Lawsuit

Adams County: Amish Must Connect To Sewer System. Amish Respond With Lawsuit

Adams County, Indiana wants to build a municipal sewer system in a certain area of the county. And it wants Amish living in that area to “get with the program” and connect to the electrically-powered system. The Amish side attempted to reach a compromise first but were denied. Here’s the gist of the problem from an article at wane.com: The Adams County Regional Sewer District…