County Threatens Religious Freedom of Amish Community

When a community of “old order” Amish families moved to a rural area of Lenawee County, many from neighboring communities where they had lived in peace for generations, county officials insisted that they must use running water and modern sewage systems that conflict with the order’s religious practice of rejecting the use of modern technology. Despite efforts to educate local officials about the religious practices of the Amish, the county posted notices on Amish homes calling them “unfit for human habitation.” In October 2019 Lenawee County filed lawsuits against every Amish family in the county asking a court to kick the Amish off their own property and demolish their homes. The ACLU of Michigan stepped in to represent the Amish families and defend their right to adhere to their religious beliefs while not harming anyone else. In December 2019 we filed counterclaims for violating the Amish families’ constitutional rights to religious liberty as well as federal law. Extensive discovery followed, and both Lenawee County and the Amish filed motions for summary disposition in November 2022. In August 2023 the county agreed to a consent judgment that grants essentially all the relief the Amish sought; the Amish will be allowed to continue their traditional ways of life and will not pose any threat to public health or the environment. In addition to providing relief to the Amish, the consent judgment requires Lenawee County to pay $425,000 in attorneys’ fees to the ACLU and our co-counsel. (Lenawee County Health Department v. Eicher; ACLU Attorneys Phil Mayor, Ramis Wadood, and Dan Korobkin; Cooperating Attorney John Shea; co-counsel Rick Schulte, Steve Behnke, Dennis Mulvihill, and Jacob Bender.)