Nine Amish men jailed for refusal to use slow-moving-vehicle signs and pay fines and costs

Nine Amish men are now being sent to jail for not paying fines and court costs levied against them after they refused to display orange triangle signs on the back of their horse-drawn buggies in Graves County in far Western Kentucky, reports Peter Smith of The Courier-Journal in Louisville. (Photo by Smith)

The men appealed their 2008 misdemeanor convictions in June, but the state Court of Appeals said religious practices can't supersede the rights and safety of the public at large. Smith reports that Graves District Judge Deborah Hawkins Crooks sentenced the men to between three and 10 days in jail for refusing to pay fines ranging between $148 to more than $600. The length of their sentences depended on their respective fines.

The men belong to a strict Amish sect, Old Order Swartzentruber, that forbids wearing bright colors or trusting man-made symbols in their safety. The men agree that complying with the law and paying the fines would be a violation of their beliefs. One of the men, Levi Zook, told Smith, "I don’t think it’s right to put somebody in jail for practicing their religious beliefs ... but that’s what we’ll do if that’s what it takes to abide by the biblical laws."

The men have appealed to the Kentucky Supreme Court, but the court has not decided whether or not to hear their cases. Meanwhile, Crooks told Smith that trial dates have been set in the coming months for several other Amish men, who have other pending charges, including some of those now serving sentences. (Read more)

UPDATE, Oct. 10: Two more members of the sect were convicted, Smith reports.