After years of lawsuits, court proceedings and, finally, asking for the federal government to intercede, Old Order Amish families in Sugar Grove Township can use their privies.

It seems like a trivial matter to many of us. Who would rather go outside on some of our frigid days to use the bathroom than connect to a municipal sewer and add some comfort to life? It turns out, the Old Order Amish.

As part of their long-held religious beliefs the Old Order Amish choose not to use electricity, instead using natural gas or windmills to power things they use every day. The grinder used in the sewer system installed in Sugar Grove is powered by electricity – so the Old Order Amish fought to keep their privies.

The case really is an intersection of government and religion. In this case, religion won in part because Sugar Grove officials failed to show two things. First, Sugar Grove officials didn’t show that they used the least restrictive means to accomplish a legitimate governmental interest when dealing with the Old Order Amish. Compromises included making an Old Order Amish family sign an agreement to pay sewer connection and use fees for a sewer system the Amish family would never use. Then, when other Amish families failed to follow suit – and the original family ended its agreement – the township and its sewer authority levied fines and went as far as to sell Amish property to settle unpaid fines. None of those actions were narrowly tailored.

Second, township officials failed to show how allowing Old Order Amish to use privies instead of hook up to the municipal sewer system affected health and safety of neighboring township residents or the environment. Again, none of the township’s actions were written in a way to attempt to accommodate the Old Order Amish. To the contrary, the township’s actions could be seen as singling out the Old Order Amish.

There are many Amish orders in our region. What happened in Sugar Grove is a good example of how not to deal with the Amish communities in our midst.