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To: mvpel
Under this constitutional guarantee one may, therefore, under normal conditions, travel at his inclination, along the public highways or in public places,..

There are prohibitions and restrictions to the use of public highways, i.e. Freeways and Restricted Access roadways. There are prohibitions against riding a bicycle or low horsepower vehicles on these roads.

Amish buggys are not permitted on freeways. Does this prohibit their freedom to travel ? No, they commonly employ a car and driver to take them long distances in conformance with their faith.

Muslims in the US could take some clues from the Amish who have managed to continue their distinctiveness without putting their finger in the eye of the community at large.

12 posted on 06/07/2003 12:36:26 PM PDT by happygrl
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To: happygrl
Muslims in the US could take some clues from the Amish

Yes, that's exactly what Muslims did. The Amish are one of the most litigious sects in the US asking for exemptions and special privileges.

What a chutzpah to ride 5 mph on a 55 mph highway with no driver's licenses and no reflectors!

-- Last week, at a district justice's office just north of here, two Amishmen pulled up in buggies, came out of the snow into the warm and were found guilty of failing to mount state-mandated reflective orange triangles on their carriages.

The fine was $100 apiece.

An hour later, at a district justice's office 10 miles to the north, the routine was repeated, this time with three Amishmen, all found guilty, each fined $100.

Nobody paid up, though.

"We don't think it's too much to impose on these people. It's good enough for everybody else," said Ted Farabaugh, a township supervisor in West Carroll Township, home to many of the Swartzentrubers. "Take away the triangle, and people have less chance to see the buggies. Then, there's going to be a head-on collision, with people trying to avoid them."

In Ohio, the largest single Amish enclave in the world, a study done through the state Department of Transportation and Ohio State University branded the orange reflective triangle "the single most recognizable emblem" to mark slow-moving traffic. That's important, Ohio Highway Patrol Lt. Joel Smith said, since the driver of a 55-mph vehicle bearing down on a 5-mph buggy will see the gap between them close from 500 feet to 44 feet in six seconds.

The new cases, and any more that come along, will be joined in a court fight framing a state traffic code provision as infringing on religious liberties of a small sliver of the state's Amish population, said Witold Walczak, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union's Greater Pittsburgh Chapter. The fight centers on a tiny, 88-year-old branch called Swartzentruber Amish, rigid by even mainline Amish standards. While the rest of the Amish spectrum has adopted, sometimes grudgingly, the orange triangles, the Swartzentrubers refuse.

source



13 posted on 06/07/2003 12:57:39 PM PDT by george wythe
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To: happygrl
Under California law, a "highway" is any street or road, not just a limited access freeway. I suspect you'll find the statutory definitions in other states are similar.
15 posted on 06/07/2003 1:09:30 PM PDT by mvpel (Michael Pelletier)
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To: happygrl
You cut off the other half of the sentence that answers your "Amish Buggys on Freeways" objection:

...and while conducting himself in an orderly manner, neither interfering with, nor disturbing another's rights,

Travelling at 5mph on a 70mph freeway is not orderly, and it interferes with and disturbs another's right to travel safely along the same roadway.

That doesn't mean that you need a license to travel along public roadways in your private property.

16 posted on 06/07/2003 1:19:46 PM PDT by mvpel (Michael Pelletier)
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