WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court sided with a southeast Minnesota Amish group that was fighting a county requirement to install septic systems to dispose of wastewater. The county, said the Court, had violated 2000 U.S. Religious Land Use Act that protects traditional practices that flow from religious beliefs. The decision was a triumph for 23 Amish families that faced an eviction by Fillmore County for refusing to comply with county requirements for septic systems to dispose of “gray water” from dishwashing, laundry and such. Justice Neil Gorsuch said: “In this country, neither the Amish nor anyone else should have to choose between their farms and their faith.” Justice Samuel Alito wrote that the Minnesota courts “plainly misinterpreted and misapplied” the federal Religious Land Use Act. Gorsuch urged the state courts and Fillmore County to resolve the dispute promptly.

Legal history

In 2013 Fillmore County began pressing a Swartzentruber Amish community to install wastewater septic systems. The Swartzentrubers, the most traditional Amish sect, responded that their religion prohibits such technology. They offered instead to use earthen basins filled with wood chips to filter water as it drains, which is allowed in some states. The county then sought a court order to force 23 families from their homes if they refused to comply. The Amish went to court but suffered repeated legal setbacks in Minnesota courts. In their appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, however, the Amish had backing from the Jewish Coalition for Religious Liberty and the National Committee for Amish Religious Freedom and prevailed. The Supreme Court ordered Minnesota courts to reconsider their earlier decisions.

The Swartzentrubers

The 32 Swartzentruber families  live in the Upper Iowa River drainage near Granger, a village almost at the Iowa border. Of 290,000 Amish in the United States, the Swartzentrubers Amish are the most traditional. Among things they eschew including modern farm tools:

>Tractors for field work.

> Rototillers.

> Power lawn mwers.

>  Propane gas.

> Bulk milk tanks.

> Mechanical milkers.

> Mechanical refrigerators.

> Pickup balers.

> Inside flush toilets.

> Running water bath tubs.

> Tractors for belt power.

> Pneumatic tools, albeit exceptions

> Chain saws.