Seven Amish Men Convicted For Refusing To Use Safety Emblem

After an all-day trial in a Graves County court in Mayfield, Kentucky, seven Amish men were convicted Friday of refusing to use the state-mandated orange "slow-moving vehicle" emblem on their horse-drawn buggies. They were fined a total of $250. Objecting to bright colors, they are willing only to use gray tape, plus lanterns at night. Believing that they should not trust their safety to a man-made symbol, they insist that the tape only outline the back of their buggies. The Louisville Courier-Journal reported yesterday that the defendants, members of the Swartzentruber Amish sect, plan to appeal. They claim that insistence on using the state emblem infringes their free exercise rights, and that their prosecution was discriminatory because the law has not been enforced against slow-moving farm machinery. (See prior related posting.)