Amish Men Jailed in Kentucky

According to a news report from local television station WPSD, 10 Amish men were sentenced to jail in western Kentucky on Thursday over charges stemming from traffic fines. The background story is that the men were fined for refusing to place orange triangle caution signs on their buggies, as required by Kentucky state law.

The men appeared in Graves County District Court in Mayfield on Thursday after their refusal to comply with the law or pay the fines, citing their religious beliefs as grounds for refusal. The Amish men told officials they objected to the orange iridescent signs because they were flashy and colorful and were in direct conflict with their religious beliefs to live simply and not draw attention to themselves.
The men belong to an Amish order known as Swartzentruber who live without electricity, plumbing or appliances.

According to an earlier news report from WPSD, in September, eight Amish men were jailed in Graves County following their refusal to pay fines for not displaying the orange traffic signs. Sentences for those men were three days, four days, seven days and 10 days and fines ranged

One of the men sentenced Thursday owed $489 in fines and was sentenced to 10 days in jail while another was sentenced to 13 days for a $627 fine.

According to information obtained by The Associated Press and reported by WPSD, of Kentucky's 120 counties, Graves County (located in the western part of the state) has the highest number of citations for failure to use the orange safety triangles. Since 2007, there have been 89 violations statewide and Graves County issued 57 of those.

The issue of whether the Constitutional right to practice religious according to belief is being violated is something that will be decided upon by the Kentucky Supreme Court after a Kentucky appeals court rejected the case last summer. The American Civil Liberties Union is working with the Amish men who have been fined and jailed and Kentucky lawmakers are considering changing the law to allow the Amish to use gray reflective tape -- which many of the men have requested to be able to use instead of the orange signs. Considering this is a religion versus man's law issue, it will be interesting to see what the Kentucky Supreme Court determines in this case when they hear it later this year.