Amish Will Comply Under Protest With Court's Order, But Will Not Take Next Steps

The Eau Claire Leader-Telegram reported Monday that a Wisconsin trial court judge ordered three Amish defendants to sign applications for building and sanitary permits and pay the required fees, or otherwise to be evicted from their homes.  Defendants' lawyer says that they will sign "under protest" in order to stay in their homes, but that they have no intention of installing the required smoke and carbon monoxide detectors.  He says that the signing is an affirmation that the laws exist, not an agreement to comply with them. Electric or battry operated detectors violate Old Order Amish religious beliefs. Defendants are considering whether to appeal the court's ruling.

6th Circuit Reverses Hate Crime Convictions In Amish Beard-Cutting Case

In an important decision under the Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009, the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in a 2-1 decision reversed the convictions of 16 members of the Bergholz Amish community for their roles in beard and hair-cutting attacks on other Amish men and women. In United States v. Miller, (6th Cir., Aug. 27, 2014), the majority held that the district court gave an erroneous instruction to the jury on motivation that went to the central issue in the trial.

18 USC Sec. 249 prohibits willfully causing bodily injury "because of" the victim's actual or perceived religion. The entire panel agreed that the U.S. Supreme Court's January 2014 decision in Burrage v. United States, which post-dated the district court's decision, should be read to require "but for" causation here. The district court judge had refused to giv e a "but for" causation instruction, and instead instructed the jury that the victims' religion need only be a "significant factor" in motivating the assaults. Judge Sutton's majority opinion on appeal, after closely examining the testimony at trial, concluded:

When all is said and done, considerable evidence supported the defendants’ theory that interpersonal and intra-family disagreements, not the victims’ religious beliefs, sparked the attacks. And all of this evidence could have given a reasonable juror grounds to doubt that religion was a but-for cause of the assaults.

Judge Sargus (sitting by appointment) dissented arguing that there can be more than one "but-for" causes, and that here it was only because of the religious significance of the act that defendants chose to cut off the hair and beards of their victims. He contended that the majority had wrongly required faith-based animus in order to convict.  New York Times, reporting on the decision, points out that defendants are still in prison on other charges.  [Thanks to Tom Rutledge for the lead.]

Amish Lose In Suit Forcing Them To Obtain Building Permits

WQOW reported yesterday that an Eau Claire County, Wisconsin trial judge has ruled in two of the six pending cases against Old Order Amish families, requiring them to obtain building and sanitary permits for their houses. If the families do not apply for the permits within 30 days, they will be required to leave their houses. In oder to otain the permits, the Amish would have to install smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, but their religious beliefs do not allow them to own electronic devices or plug into the public grid.

Guardian For Amish Girl's Medical Decisions Seeking To Withdraw

In Akron, Ohio, a court-appointed guardian for an 11-year old Amish girl with leukemia is seeking court approval to withdraw from the case.  AP reports that the guardian, an attorney and registered nurse, has decided to drop her attempt to force the girl to resume chemotherapy treatments since she no longer knows where the girl is and cannot monitor her condition. The girl's parents decided to stop the chemotherapy, believing that it was making her sick and would ultimately kill her.  They went into hiding with the girl after a state appeals court (see prior posting) upheld the appointment of the guardian.  The parents are treating the girl with herbs and vitamins.  Doctors at Akron Children's Hospital say that the girl's leukemia is treatable, but that she will die within a year unless chemotherapy is resumed.