In Morristown, New York, members of the town council have written newspapers urging the state to help pay for the town's prosecution of ten members of the conservative Swartzentruber Amish sect for building homes without a permit. Today's Watertown Daily Times reports that town officials say they are bearing the cost of a test case for enforcing state law. Costs include not just fees for the town's attorney, but also the cost of translating legal documents into Pennsylvania Dutch. In the first of the cases that is being tried, defendant's attorney claims religious persecution of his client.
UPDATE: Newsday on Tuesday reported that the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty has sent a 5-page letter supporting the Amish defendants to the town council, New York's Attorney General and the U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division. The letter says that their continued prosecution would violate a number of constitutional and statutory protections.
