CLEVELAND — Before his sentencing, Samuel Mullet Sr. told Judge Dan Aaron Polster in Cleveland that he had been blamed for running a cult and was ready to take the punishment. Polster also sentenced 15 other Amish to prison terms ranging from one to seven years.
Mullet, his ankles in chains and a white beard down to midchest, said if his community is seen as a cult, ‘‘Then I’m going to take the punishment for everybody.’’
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Mullet and his family deny that his community is a cult....
The defendants were charged with a hate crime because prosecutors believe religious differences brought about the attacks.
Aren't all crimes hate crimes? Who commits a crime out of love?
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The feeling here is if you deviate in anyway from state- and culturally-prescribed orthodoxy you are considered insane or a cult. That isn't to say all the nut balls are legit, it is only to say I do not consider the Amish one.
"Convicted Ohio Amish face unfamiliar lives in US prison" by Thomas J. Sheeran | Associated Press, March 08, 2013
CLEVELAND — After living rural, self-sufficient lives with little outside contact, 16 Amish men and women are facing regimented routines in a federal prison system where almost half of inmates are behind bars for drug offenses and where modern conveniences, such as television, will be a constant temptation.
Prison rules will allow the 10 men convicted in beard- and hair-cutting attacks on fellow Amish in eastern Ohio to keep their religiously important beards, but they must wear standard prison khaki or green work uniforms instead of the dark outfits they favor. Jumper dresses will be an option for the six Amish women, who will be barred from wearing their traditional long, dark dresses and bonnets.
What is interesting there is Muslims are often denied that (the guy framed for Fort Hood is a good example).
What is interesting there is Muslims are often denied that (the guy framed for Fort Hood is a good example).
It’s unclear where the Amish will serve their sentences, but some of the nearest options include....
Visits from family members might be difficult since they don’t drive modern vehicles....
‘‘Amish people grow up with very strong communal connections and large extended families and participating in community activities, so being suddenly severed from that and isolated would certainly be a major change,’’ said Donald Kraybill, a longtime Amish researcher and professor at Elizabethtown College in the heart of Pennsylvania’s Amish country.
That's why government gives people like them (and the Mormons in the southwest) such a hard time.
That's why government gives people like them (and the Mormons in the southwest) such a hard time.
The defendants, all members of the same sect, were convicted in September of hate crimes in the 2011 attacks meant to shame fellow Amish they believed were straying from the strict religious interpretations espoused by their leader. Fifteen of them received sentences ranging from one to seven years; the ringleader, Samuel Mullet Sr., got 15 years.
They all rejected plea deals that offered leniency, with some young mothers turning down possible chances for probation.
Amish communities have a highly insular, modest lifestyle. They are deeply religious and believe in following the Bible, which they believe instructs women to let their hair grow long and men to grow beards and stop shaving once they marry.
Aside from the hair, that bothers government and the corporations it serves. Amish aren't good con$umers.
Aside from the hair, that bothers government and the corporations it serves. Amish aren't good con$umers.
Prosecutors say the 16 defendants targeted hair because it carries spiritual significance, hence the hate crime prosecution. The defendants had argued that the Amish are bound by different rules guided by their religion and that the government had no place getting involved in what amounted to a family or church dispute.
In this case, I agree.
In this case, I agree.
Most of the men were locked up, often in less strict local jails, after their arrests and will have some idea of what to expect in prison. The women remained free during the trial, and several have asked to stay out of prison during their appeals. The judge rejected three such requests Wednesday.
The beard-cutting defendants aren’t likely to see many fellow Amish in prison. In the Amish region east of Cleveland where one of the attacks took place, Trumbull County Sheriff Thomas Altiere has seen only one Amish inmate in his 20 years as sheriff, and Kraybill, the researcher, knows of just one current Amish inmate.
The federal system doesn’t prohibit locking up relatives in the same facility, so the defendants could wind up at some of the same locations....
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Related:
Ohio man says hair cutting shamed his Amish father
16 Amish convicted of hate crimes for inflicting haircuts
Amish in beard-cutting trial to challenge law
Also see:
Related:
Ohio man says hair cutting shamed his Amish father
16 Amish convicted of hate crimes for inflicting haircuts
Amish in beard-cutting trial to challenge law
Also see:
