Swartzentruber sect refuses flashing lights on buggies but won’t take the matter to court. For lawyers and students at Harvard, it’s a valid religious-freedom case.
In bodycam footage from an April 2023 traffic stop in rural Ohio, an unseen law enforcement officer approaches a spartan black buggy, typical of vehicles used by the Swartzentruber Amish, and asks the two young men inside if they’ve ever received a ticket.
“I think I’m going to tow your buggy, unless you got a light in there,” the cop says.