The Nation - News from Dec. 20, 1988

A judge in Preston, Minn., ruled that Amish people must display slow-moving vehicle signs on their horse-drawn buggies, but lawyers said the religious-freedom issue could go all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. State law requiring the signs does not violate the Amish’s First Amendment right to freedom of religion, Fillmore County District Judge Clement Snyder ruled. Phillip Villaume, an attorney for the Amish, said the case will be appealed. He and Fillmore County Assistant Atty. Matt Opat said the case could end up in the U.S. Supreme Court. Fifteen Amish people appeared before Snyder in October after they had been ticketed for failing to obey the sign law. A witness for the Amish said they oppose displaying the signs because they feel the signs are “worldly” representations of man, not God, and they hope to keep religious practices separate from the modern world.