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Amish Sue New York Town for Discrimination Over Building Code Enforcement
Fox News / AP ^ | January 06, 2009

Posted on 01/06/2009 8:57:51 PM PST by bamahead

The Amish families claim the town of Morristown has refused to issue building permits that would allow them to practice their religion and build homes according to their beliefs.

"The U.S. Constitution, and legal precedent all the way to the Supreme Court, are clear. The Amish, who are known throughout the world as master craftsmen and master builders, have the right to practice their beliefs. That includes building and living in homes that conform to those beliefs," Rassbach said.

Before 2006, the Swartzentruber Amish in Morristown were granted building permits and allowed to build their structures according to traditional standards and customs without interference, according to the 37-page lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Watertown.

However, since 2006, Morristown officials have brought more than 10 separate prosecutions against the Amish, the lawsuit said....

(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: amish; freedom; lawsuit; lp; nannystate
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To: lmr
Arguing against driver’s licenses or proper photo i.d. is ridiculous.

Like I said--I remember when driver's licenses didn't have photos, even though photos were invented long, long before automobile and driver's licenses even existed.

And more than a century before the state suddenly required a photo on a driver license.

I hope you'll enjoy it when your DNA is encoded onto your license, and whatever other intrusion into your privacy the state requires you to allow.

Oh, but I know: We need to protect our freedom--by letting the government destroy it a little at a time.

41 posted on 01/06/2009 11:19:22 PM PST by Age of Reason
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To: bamahead
They don't deny building houses without permits and have said they were willing to purchase building permits, but contend the requirements of the codes — such as having smoke detectors, submitting engineering plans and allowing inspections — violate their religious beliefs.

Less than forty years ago, most of America knew nothing of smoke detectors, pulled a house permit without drawings, and the building inspector actually knew more about construction than today's permit paper pushers.

The Amish houses will do better in an earthquake than most of the old building stock in cities. I suspect they don't live on the coastlines where houses of the elite are routinely blown away in hurricanes nor live in kindling woods like beautiful people of California whose homes routinely disappear in forest fires. I'll bet that Amish take better care of their properties than the renters in squalid city neighborhoods. I suspect they have a good point that they are made to follow a code that from experience offers them no value.

It's probably the smoke detector, a modern electronic device that really irritates them from their religious point of view. Let's face it, how many people don't replenish smoke detector batteries especially if they are smokers. I hope the Amish win this one.

42 posted on 01/06/2009 11:34:39 PM PST by LoneRangerMassachusetts
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To: lmr
The Mennonites here (Amish) build homes for poor people regardless of race/religion who get them at DEEP discounts, so yes, the Amish do build quite a few things for others.

Mennonite is to Amish as lemon is to lime

43 posted on 01/06/2009 11:44:57 PM PST by YankeeinOkieville (Do illiterates get the full effect of alphabet soup?)
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To: Hilda
Smoke detectors prevent buildings from burning down, and fires spread.

Sorry, but they do neither of those things. They are ALARMS, not prevention nor supression devices.

Whats more, they, under the new codes, MUST be hardwired into the electical system of the home, and these Old Order Amish do NOT have wiring in their homes. They don't just disconnect the power; the walls do NOT have wiring in them.

If forced, the OOA will build the house with the wiring; be inspected & signed off, then remove the wiring as well as be disconnected.

What this gal is doing is coming around, and doing LATER inspections based on suspicion, then getting them for being out of compliance because they didn't (and couldn't have anyway) get permits to get rid of those dadratted, newfangled Satanic electricicles from their homes.

...Morristown code enforcement officer Lanetta Kay Davis, who was appointed in 2006, has selectively issued a number of code violations to the Amish. The complaint also alleged that she has posted messages at an anti-Amish Web site and zealously enforced the code, even issuing tickets on off-hours after making unannounced visits to Amish homes to conduct intrusive inspections.

When was the last time a "code enforcement officer" (Building Inspector) showed up on your doorstep, and demanded to be allowed to inspect your home for possible violations? Had they also posted messages on a forum that is avowedly against your religion, thus establishing prejudice?

As to so called public safety, However, the lawsuit noted that there have been no building collapses, fires, or other public emergencies that would provide the town with a compelling interest to enforce the building code on the Amish.

44 posted on 01/06/2009 11:57:28 PM PST by ApplegateRanch (Islam: a Satanically Transmitted Disease, spread by unprotected intimate contact with the Koranus.)
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To: DB
They demanded that it have windows and I didn’t want windows

Ah, yes; that old '10% of the square footage of the floor, or X sq ft, which ever is greater; with 50% openable; and the sill no higher than Y" above the floor, in every habitable room with an exterior wall' nonsense.

Last I looked, people don't 'inhabit' home theaters.

Glad we finally moved on to property where the only building requirements are installation of the septic system by a licensed installer; and the electrical system (IF there is one) must be inspected & conform to the state code...but doesn't require a license, if it is your own family doing the work on your own place.

When I wired this house, it was slow going, part time. The Inspector started to fret that I wouldn't finish before the permit timed out...so he came out a couple of weekends, and HELPED (for free, in return for hunting that season) get it finished; and showed me a few tricks that made it quicker & easier.

45 posted on 01/07/2009 12:14:48 AM PST by ApplegateRanch (Islam: a Satanically Transmitted Disease, spread by unprotected intimate contact with the Koranus.)
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To: bamahead
Here's John Book fighting for the rights of the Amish.


46 posted on 01/07/2009 12:45:00 AM PST by jws3sticks (Hillary can take a very long walk on a very short pier, anytime, and the sooner the better!)
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To: jws3sticks

I love that movie.


47 posted on 01/07/2009 12:49:29 AM PST by Allegra
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To: Hilda

>>>Smoke detectors are against their religious beliefs? Sorry - I have to disagree. Smoke detectors prevent buildings from burning down, and fires spread.<<<

You little Nazi! What other Mother Hen rules do you support?


48 posted on 01/07/2009 1:19:18 AM PST by PhilipFreneau ("The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God." - Psalms 14:1)
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To: Allegra

Me too, which is why I searched for that picture to post. Harrison was at his very best, plus a great insight into the peaceful community, done with grace and respect.


49 posted on 01/07/2009 3:00:32 AM PST by jws3sticks (Hillary can take a very long walk on a very short pier, anytime, and the sooner the better!)
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To: Age of Reason
They should be allowed to cover their faces for any reason.

The purpose of a driver's license is identification.

Muslims covering their faces defeats this purpose.

50 posted on 01/07/2009 3:25:09 AM PST by humblegunner (Where my PIE at, fool?)
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To: humblegunner
The purpose of a driver's license is identification.

A tattoo on the arm would outrage modesty less. ;)

Serious now, if the purpose is identification, it ought to be required for walking around breathing, and thus an implanted chip on the day you're born. That's more tamper-resistant. Less chafing in the area of liberty.

51 posted on 01/07/2009 3:39:47 AM PST by 668 - Neighbor of the Beast (Live your principles. Don't just type them here.)
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To: bamahead

We should all keep on the right side of the Amish. They’re experts at living off the grid.


52 posted on 01/07/2009 3:48:54 AM PST by informavoracious
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To: ReneeLynn

The problem is that if you pull a permit you have to follow the building codes and allow an inspection of the building during construction. That means that it can be red-tagged if the inspector sees your not following the county codes.

For example the Amish don’t have 2” of insulation on their basements, like they haven’t had for a thousand years. If the inspector follows code then he would have to legally tag it and stop construction just like he would for a commercial builder who did something wrong.

Personally I feel that unless they sell the house to The English then they should be allowed to build whatever they want to on their property, that is the way it is around here.

I can build a home on my property without any permits but can’t get a mortgage and I can’t ever sell it. Except for the septic system which has to be perked and checked for groundwater contamination for public health reasons they can’t stop me until I sell it, then it has to be inspected.

Having your electrical and plumbing system inspected after the drywall is on is almost impossible, so people end up handing homes like that down to their children, just like the Amish do.


53 posted on 01/07/2009 4:59:53 AM PST by Abathar (Proudly posting without reading the article carefully since 2004)
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To: Still Thinking

I didn’t ask about a permit, I was ‘told’ that I was going to need one. The man who issues them is my neighbor.


54 posted on 01/07/2009 8:58:55 AM PST by ReneeLynn (Socialism, it's the new black.)
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To: ReneeLynn
The man who issues them is my neighbor.

Oh, crap. Bad luck for you. OTOH, maybe you could sue for discrimination since the plan checker doesn't live next to everyone in town. ;-)

55 posted on 01/07/2009 9:09:49 AM PST by Still Thinking (Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?)
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To: humblegunner
The purpose of a driver's license is identification.

Muslims covering their faces defeats this

Well then--let's do full-frontal nudity photos on driver licenses, to even better prove identity.

56 posted on 01/07/2009 11:44:45 AM PST by Age of Reason
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To: PhilipFreneau

Don’t call me a Nazi. It doesn’t take much for you to invoke Godwin’s law, does it? My uncles, aunt and niece might well have all died if they didn’t have one - and they complained about it until it saved their lives.


57 posted on 01/07/2009 4:04:45 PM PST by Hilda
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To: Still Thinking

I’m late on this reply!

Actually, he was doing a favor. He had problems when he wanted to put a little carport on his garage. They(the township) sent letters to the homes around his asking if we would have a problem with that. Huh? So, he told me to get the permit because the neighbors behind my house could complain and it ‘was’ the law.

Replacing a fence with another fence. I’m feeling that ‘owning’ property is an illusion the local gov’t allows us.


58 posted on 01/08/2009 12:10:46 PM PST by ReneeLynn (Socialism, it's the new black.)
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