Federal Suit To Be Filed On Behalf of Amish Over NY Building Codes

Several towns in northern New York have brought suits to enforce their building code requirements against members of a conservative Amish sect. (See prior postings 1, 2, 3 .) While state courts have rejected their free exercise defenses, WNYF News reported Friday that the Becket fund is planning to file a federal lawsuit against the Town of Morristown on behalf of nearly a dozen Amish men facing code violation charges there. In anticipation of that, a judge in Hammond (NY) has postponed further proceedings in an eviction proceeding against two Amish families there.