Judge orders Amish family to vacate home - Leader-Telegram: Front Page Posted: Monday, March 23, 2015 11:24 pm | Updated: 11:53 pm, Mon Mar 23, 2015. Judge orders Amish family to vacate home A ruling Monday that an Amish couple and their four young children have to vacate their rural Fairchild home “immediately” for failing to obtain the proper sanitary and building permits may have a much greater impact, according to the family’s attorney. Matthew Krische, attorney for renters Amos and Vera Borntreger and homeowner Clemens Borntreger, said the ruling by Eau Claire County Judge Kristina Bourget that the Borntregers were in contempt of a court order may influence whether a large segment of Old Order Amish remain in the county. [h=3][/h] “The court has to follow what the ordinance says,” Krische said after Bourget’s ruling. “But we actually do run the risk of losing the Old Order Amish community in Eau Claire County. “They pay a lot of taxes for a lot of things they don’t even use in the modern community,” Krische said. “And it might not be a small group; it could be the entire Amish community we could lose.” An earlier Leader-Telegram account indicated the Amish, particularly in the rural Augusta and Fairchild areas, would consider moving out of the county because of the mandates of sanitary and building permits, as well as installation of smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. “They have to comply with the court order. It’s against the law to not comply with a court order, and they are law-abiding people. They don’t want trouble, but what happens next is a decision they are going to make as a community,” Krische said, referring to a possible decision for multiple Amish families to relocate. County officials have indicated there are about a half-dozen more Amish families who may get cited for not having proper permitting. Krische has heard that as well. “The same arguments aren’t going to work here any more,” he said. “The court has found that the ordinances are valid, and they do not violate my clients’ sincerely held religious beliefs, at least in this respect.” Bourget said the Borntreger family was to vacate the property immediately. Krische said it would have been impossible for the family to leave Monday. “It’s impossible for the property to come into compliance right now, but if it means that the county is going to go out there right now and kick this family out of its home, that just doesn’t seem right to me,” Krische said, adding that he hopes the county would give notification when it is coming. Heather Wolske, an attorney for the county, said after the hearing attended by about 25 Amish and others: “Immediately means today. I don’t know when the county will go placard, but they should vacate today.” The county also has requested the Borntregers be fined $42,700 for noncompliance. Bourget said she will rule on that once the Borntregers come into compliance. Thoughts on this? Should we provide exceptions to public code because of religion?
Freedom of religion was one of the selling points of the country now the government is infringing on their beliefs. It's not like this is a new thing with the Amish they should be exempt from the law. We as Americans should be trying to get away from the nanny state this country has become.
Their religion says no lifestyle improvements. Which smoke detectors fall into their category as improvements. No electricity, no batteries, no septic, no nothing.
It's perfectly ok for us to support generations to be on welfare, but those damn hard working amish rule breakers, they must change their way of life.
My only qualm with that is if they don't use any sanitation for their waste water. There draws the line of affecting other people with not properly taking care of their sewage. I could give two rips if they want to live with smoke detectors or not.
We have a large Amish community here also. If fact, some of the same name as mentioned. It is common for them to use zero sanitation. A straight pipe to the ditch is not uncommon. Anyone that is in violation of the very basic sanitation code and permits is subject to the same penalties. I see absolutely nothing wrong with this treatment of their situation. Either comply with health issues, or move on. They were obviously made aware of the penalties of non-compliance and chose to do nothing. I have no sympathy for them.
I have a problem with that too pretty simple to build a sanitation pond, we had one at my house growing up
So you would be fine with a neighbor dumping raw sewage into the river or ditch near your house? I am for leaving them alone, but don't hide under the "religion" blanket for this one. We're all part of this world.
I'm pretty sure they won't be compliance with a sanation pond. LOL We can't even get permits for out houses these days.
For whatever reason this pisses me off. Let them throw their piss and crap into a ditch out in the woods, who friggin cares. Hell, the government is attacking these people while it lets the mosquitoes of our society continue to drain our resources. This is irritating.
County I live in would be a junk yard without rules like that. Huge issue when the county said you can only have 2 inoperable vehicles on your property. I understand the septic rules as well. As far as the CO2 and smoke alarms how does the county know? If it is a rental property I fully understand enforcing the code.
I'm working to build a house. I have started on septic testing, design, and permits. Heck, the township also called for a storm water management plan! With the costs associated with all this...I can see how one would avoid it! More money out of the pocket, never mind the way of life.
If they dont have insurance why would they need to have fire alarms and CO2 detectors? They dont need insurance money, they just man up and rebuild their own homes.
