We've been talking about this case for years and I guess we'll continue to talk about it. That's because Mitchell County, Iowa authorities have vowed to continue the silliness. If you're new to this site here it is in a nutshell: Mitchell County officials claim that steel-wheeled farm equipment used by the area's Old Order Mennonites cause damage to roads (I'd love to know how much money the county has spent litigating this and how much road repair that would pay for). But after watching this case grind through the judicial system the past couple of years, the Iowa Supreme Court has ruled that the ordinance passed by Mitchell County is unconstitutional because it directly targets the Mennonites and their religious freedom. The Mennonites oppose the use of anything other than steel wheels claiming that rubberized wheels would be too big a step towards modernization. In the wake of the ruling, however, Mitchell County has said that they'll continue to issue citations because they have since "tweaked" the statute to make it more able to withstand a court challenge. Whatever. Seriously,, we're talking about a few Mennonite families using farm equipment on a few miles of county roads. I think salt trucks, snow plows, semis, and school buses do far more damage to asphalt, are they going to start ticketing those? Silly. Click here to read about the ruling.
Denise
Very interesting about the Iowa Supreme court ruling. I live in Iowa but had not heard about this.