Login | January 06, 2025
Harvard helps an Amish sect sue the state to end Ohio’s taillight law
RICHARD WEINER
Technology for Lawyers
Published: January 3, 2025
Sometimes the intersection of law and technology looks like the farthest out-there science fiction/horror film.
And sometimes it has a much less modern sheen.
To some Ohio Amish sects, technology that is even as simple as a buggy taillight can be seen as an infringement on their religious freedom.
And recently, the Holmes County conservative Swartzentruber Amish dropped a lawsuit on the state to rescind the 2022 law.
ORC 4513.114, requiries all animal-drawn vehicles to have yellow flashing lights displayed.
The sect eschews every manner of technology, including the electricity that runs those flashing yellow lights.
They use reflective tape and oil lanterns, but that isn’t the law right now.
To those of us who regularly travel to take the grandkids to Holmes County Amish Country, the ubiquitous Amish buggy is simply a part of the journey.
But apparently, many drivers don’t know how to navigate/share the roads with buggies that travel at about 10 MPH.
There are about 76,000 Amish community members in the state.
As reported by the Columbus Dispatch, the change in the law came after a statewide study showed 723 buggy crashes, including 15 that involved fatalities, over a 10-year period.
In an analysis before it was passed, the Ohio Legislative Service Commission did note that the law could raise First Amendment issues.
More than 200 tickets have been issued to Amish buggy drivers since the law passed in June 2022.
The Swartzentruber Amish sect is being helped by the Harvard University Law School's Religious Freedom Clinic.
So far so good--the Hardin County Common Pleas Court granted a temporary restraining order.
But that came with a cost—the Ohio State Highway Patrol waited outside the courtroom after the hearing and gave more tickets to the buggy drivers when they came out after the hearing.
That kind of targeting usually gets a player suspended for a game.
I think that anyone driving in Holmes County should have special training and licensing in how to drive there.
As it is, here’s the issue: State-mandated technology may infringe on religious freedom under the First Amendment?
Sounds like a solid argument against new tech to me.