Sunday, March 18, 2012
Amish Buggy Signs
This issue became headlines news in 2011 when an Amish teenager died after a small utility vehicle (SUV) struck his horse-drawn buggy from behind accidently. The buggy did not have the state required orange reflective safety triangle affixed to it. In January 2012 another teenage buggy driver was hit and his buggy dragged into a ditch by a drunk driver. Five children were with him in the carriage; fortunately no one was injured. The teenage buggy driver was cited for failing to display the mandated small moving vehicle (SMV) triangle.
The dispute over the safety reflective triangles ignited a debate between law enforcement officers and the Amish in several lower court cases. Dozens of Amish men from Kentucky, Ohio and Tennessee argue their religious freedom is the issue causing them to oppose the use of safety triangles and for not paying court-imposed fines related to the orange reflective safety triangles on their buggies. “We would be working against our own religious beliefs,” they say.
One of the nine Amish men jailed and spokesperson for the sect said they believe God will protect them on roadways and that they should never put their trust in a manmade object instead of God. Further, he says the bright orange color of the triangles directly violates their strict modesty code banning vivid colors. “The use of the orange triangles encroach upon their spiritual relationship
with God because the Bible admonishes them to shun those things that are of the world,” said the lawyer from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in representing the Amish.
Amish in other states (Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan) have sided with the religious freedom argument in this case noting that Ohio, New York and Pennsylvania permit Amish buggies to use silver reflective tape instead of orange triangles. With the repeated jailing of Amish men, the Kentucky legislature reconsidered their safety laws and its application to the Amish community. The Amish spokesperson sent 138 handwritten letters to Kentucky legislators prompting the Kentucky Senate to pass a bill that will allow the Amish to use reflective tape on their buggies instead of orange reflective triangles. The Amish are okay with that decision, but now they want the nine men exonerated. Therefore, in March they went to the Kentucky Supreme Court to argue that the charges against the men be dropped.
Does the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment allow the Amish to be exempt from laws that violate their religious beliefs or should they be forced to abide by the laws like other citizens in their state?
I believe the Kentucky Senate’s passage of a bill allowing the Amish to use reflective tape on their vehicles instead of the triangles is a wise decision, but I do not believe the nine men previously convicted of disobeying the law should be exonerated. The Amish put others at risk during their fight and refusal to adhere to public safety regulations and laws. They won their fight by provisions set forth by the First and Fourteenth Amendments. While the laws were in effect the Amish could have meet the safety concerns partially by using the reflective tape that had been allowed in other states. The Amish were aware of an alternative used in other states but choose to ignore the law and the public’s safety as well as their own. The Kentucky Supreme Court should uphold the law for all its
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