ASHLAND — Twenty-one more Amish refused to pay their fines for violating Ohio’s new buggy law at multiple hearings in the Ashland Municipal Court on Thursday.
Levi Lehman, Andy Zook, Harvey Hostetler, William Zook, Eli Gingerich, Abraham Yoder, Andy Hersberger, Jacob Swartzentruber and Henry Weaver appeared before Magistrate Fred Oxley at 9 a.m. for a fines and costs hearing.
Levi J. Hostetler, Levi Hostetler, Daniel Took, Benjamin Weaver, Mose Glick, Mosie Gingerich, Enos Miller, Mahlon Lehman, Henry Swartzentruber, Andy Miller, Levi S. Hershberger and Eli Mast appeared at 1 p.m.
Each of them were read their rights and the options they have to pay their fines, such as community service, liens, or a payment plan. But when Oxley asked them how long it will take them to pay it off, they all declined to pay in any way, citing their religion.
“For religious reasons, paying is no option,” Enos Miller said.
The group at Thursday’s hearings were ticketed a few months ago for not having yellow flashing lights on their buggies, as required by a recently signed-law.
According to the defendants — who are members of the conservative Swartzentruber clan — their religious traditions require them to keep their buggies “plain and simple” and a yellow flashing light is too “worldly”.
During the 9 a.m. hearings, Oxley asked each of the Amish defendants if they understood that traffic laws exist “for the safety of yourself and your family as well as the safety of the driving public.” Each of them said they understood.
Under Ohio law, defendants who willingly refuse to pay fines can be imprisoned and earn a $50 credit toward their fines for every day they spend in jail. Most of the Amish have fines of around $150.
At the beginning of the day, Oxley told defendant Levi Lehman to “be prepared to be sentenced to jail” at his next hearing on April 14 — the date all the Amish return to court — if he refuses to pay.
According to a 2019 Ohio Department of Transportation study, there were 723 crashes involving buggies between 2009 and 2019, resulting in at least 17 fatalities and hundreds of injuries. Sixty-five percent of the crashes occurred while passing, the study said.
