ACLU of Michigan takes up cases of 14 Amish families under scrutiny in Lenawee County

Spencer Durham | Daily Telegram

MEDINA TWP. — The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan has taken up the cases of 14 Amish families whose homes have come under the scrutiny of the Lenawee County Health Department.

The health department has filed lawsuits against the owners of the properties for what it calls a lack of adequate water and sewer systems.

In one particular complaint lodged against a family at 10806 Ingall Highway, Morenci, the health department alleges the property is not up to health code. A complaint filed on the matter states the property was inspected in June 2015.

The inspection found the home “did not have an adequate sewage disposal or water system and is unfit for habitation...”

Amish do not use indoor plumbing or electricity. They typically use an outhouse and pump water by hand or gas motor.

The health department’s complaint stated that sewage and gray water, wastewater from bathtubs and sinks, were being disposed of on the ground and posed a danger to the general public’s health.

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The county health code prohibits sewage from being discharged on the ground. Water supply systems must be constructed to provide “potable water which will not endanger the health of the user ...” and can meet the demands of all users, according to the code.

The code allows the health department to declare dwellings unfit for habitation if they do not meet the standards of adequate water and sewage systems. The department can also issue an order requiring people to vacate the premises if these conditions are not met. It is unlawful to live at a residence when this order has been levied.

This is what the health department issued at 10806 Ingall Highway and other Amish properties in the southwest corner of the county, mainly in Medina Township.

Letters were sent to the residence in 2016 to comply with the health code, obtain permits and cease using the outhouse. An application for sewage disposal was returned incomplete, according to court filings. More letters were sent in 2016 about the incomplete application.

In January 2017, the family responded through their attorney that they did not intend to comply. This summer an order was issued declaring the property unfit for habitation.

The health department’s complaint alleges the noncompliance harms neighboring properties and children are at high risk.

The county has asked the court that the owner bring the property into compliance or the structure be demolished.

Voicemails left by The Daily Telegram late Wednesday afternoon at the health department and to its attorney, Dale Smith of Adrian, went unreturned.

Whereas the county argues the matter in terms of health code compliance, the ACLU of Michigan alleges the requirements violate the constitutional rights of the Amish.

The Amish contend constructing more modern water and sewer systems, such an electric water pump or indoor plumbing, violates their religious beliefs.

Representatives of the ACLU took their arguments public Wednesday afternoon with a news conference at the residence of another Amish family at 9253 Ranger Highway, Morenci.

Phil Mayor, senior staff attorney for the ACLU of Michigan, said the demands from the county ask the Amish to compromise their way of life.

“No one should have to choose between their faith and having their homes destroyed and being rendered homeless, but that’s the choice the county is attempting to foist on this community,” he said.

The ACLU, along with a legal team from Wright & Schulte, LLC, a Dayton, Ohio, law firm, are providing their services pro bono.

Answers and counterclaims were filed for the Amish families on Wednesday in Lenawee County Circuit Court. Essentially, the ACLU has counter-sued or sued the county back. Counterclaims against the county include religious discrimination that violates federal and state constitutions and the federal Fair Housing Act.

Mayor said Wednesday the county is committing religious and housing discrimination against the Amish. He went further, arguing if the Amish vacated their homes it would expel them from the county as it would be impossible to follow their faith and comply with the health code.

Richard Schulte, a civil trial lawyer at Wright & Schulte, pushed back against the county’s claims that the Amish’s water and sewer systems present dangers to the public’s health.

“We’re convinced the water is safe,” he said. “We’re certainly open to what they have to say but in this case they have produced nothing to any of these families their water is unsafe, and again, whether they’ve done any damage to the environment or harmed anyone else in this county.”

This issue was first raised in 2015, according to a Daily Telegram report, when complaints were made to the health department about the use of outhouses by Amish families who had recently moved to Lenawee County.

At the time, Martha Hall, was the environmental health director then and is now the county’s health officer, said the main complaint was disposal of waste.

Schulte has worked other similar cases involving the Amish. He accused the county of abusing its power.

“I can tell you, relative to the two other cases I was involved in concerning Amish folks, this is the most aggressive one,” he said. “And it’s not close.”

More than 30 Amish packed into the home at 9253 Ranger Highway to listen to the press conference. The couple who owned the property took questions from the media. They requested to not be named.

The couple is in their late 60s and moved to the area from Reading in 2016. They have six children between the ages of 23 and 46 and over 30 grandchildren.

They obtain water via a manual pump in the front yard of their property but also utilize a windmill and gas motor when needed. The family uses an outhouse. Sewage is then dumped on a livestock manure pit.

They said they were surprised at how strict the county was and did not have problems with Hillsdale County.

The Amish rarely file lawsuits, sue or engage with the court system. The Fair Housing Center of Southeast & Mid Michigan referred the case to the ACLU which then sought out the Amish community.

“They don’t believe in hiring us, but they had to do a balancing test,” Schulte said. “If they don’t hire us and the local government does what they want to do, they’re going to give up a greater way of their life.

“We’re hopeful that the county will find reason and sit down at the table now that the Amish has found somebody to fight for them.”