Written by Don Byrd
After forcibly cutting the hair of fellow Old Order Amish in Ohio, a dozen or so defendants are charged with violating hate crimes laws. In response, the group argues that because the violent act was between members of the same faith and was essentially a religious squabble, the legislation can not apply without running afoul of First Amendment religious freedom rights.
Federal prosecutors had no comment “beyond the fact that we have every confidence that the law is constitutional,” said Michael Tobin, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Cleveland.
Charles Haynes, a Washington-based religious freedoms expert with the First Amendment Center, said he knows of no other constitutional challenges to the hate-crimes statutes citing religious protections under the First Amendment.
“It sounds to me like this is a pretty big stretch, but you never know what a court might do,” Haynes said. “I’m not sure religious protections extend to alleged crimes.”
