Published: July 07, 2008 10:49 pm            

Jail sentence for Amish too harsh, unconstitutional, attorney says

EBENSBURG — Two Amish men sentenced to 90 days in jail for sewage violations have appealed to Cambria County Court, saying the punishment is excessive.

The appeal may open the door for Andy Swartzentruber and Sam Yoder to ask the court to overturn their convictions of summary offenses as well.

Ebensburg attorney James Stratton, who is representing the two, also contends the sentences are unconstitutional – violating freedom of religion for the Amish.

The men are members of the ultraconservative Amish Swartzentruber sect and contend that the sewage requirements violate their First Amendment rights to exercise their religious beliefs.

Stratton could not be reached Monday for comment.

District Attorney Patrick Kiniry said the “de novo” appeal literally means for a hearing “anew,” which might include a second time around on the two men’s guilt as well as the sentences. That will be up to a judge to decide, he said.

But Kiniry does not view the case as one involving the First Amendment.

“There are many First Amendment protections, but not every disagreement concerning public safety issues creates a First Amendment issue,” he said.

Swartzentruber and Yoder were fined $1,000 each in April by District Judge Michael Zungali for illegally dumping waste from two unpermitted outhouses at the sect’s Nicktown- area school.

The county sewage enforcement agency said the sewage was collected in buckets before being dumped onto the land. Legally, the waste should be collected in a tank that is emptied and carted away.

Swartzentruber is the landowner where the school is situated, and Yoder is one of the elders in charge of the school.

They did not appeal their convictions within the 30-day deadline, and then refused on June 12 to pay the fines of $1,000 each.

At that point, Zungali ordered them to serve 90 days in prison, beginning July 21. He’d urged them to perform community service – possibly at Duman Lake Park or for the township – rather than going to jail.

But they said that paying fines or accepting community service “are not the way our forefathers did it.”

In the appeal, Stratton said the sentences do not “recognize the sincere religious beliefs” of the two men and are “too harsh for a first offense, being the maximum allowed by law.”

        

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