The reason? Outhouses and lack of
running water, which created what were described as unsafe living conditions.
Eviction loomed, and jail and fines were possible. There
was even a threat of the homes being bulldozed.
Now the Lenawee County Health Department has been sued by
a team of attorneys representing 14 Amish households, as reported in the Toledo Blade.
The purpose is “to halt Lenawee County officials from
demolishing Amish family homes.”
The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan is
helping a private Ohio law firm in this case. They assert discrimination by the
health department towards the Amish.
Amish did not want to sue at first. They changed their
minds when they realized their homes might be destroyed. The lawyers here are
working pro bono.
Link at knuckledraggin.com.
(I was nine years old when my
family moved into a house with indoor plumbing. Before then, I can remember
seven houses we lived in, each having an outhouse far enough from the main house
as to be a real trip during winter. All those houses had a well, from which we
drew water with a rope, pulley and bucket. That first house with indoor
plumbing also had a well, but we drew water only when necessary, such as an
electricity outage. None of us ever got sick from an outhouse or from well
water, nor did anyone we knew. Lenawee County’s argument is false. There has to
be another reason the county government wants to get rid of its Amish, other
than the stated aversion to outhouses.)
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