United States v. Mullet

In 1995, Mullet bought Jefferson County, Ohio land that became the Bergholz Amish community. As bishop, Samuel controlled life in the Bergholz compound and could order the “shunning” (excommunication) of community members. In 2006, Samuel excommunicated members who questioned his leadership. Given the number of excommunications, 300 Amish bishops convened and voted unanimously to reverse the shunnings. The excommunications caused family disputes, including a custody battle that resulted in a SWAT team taking children under an emergency temporary custody order. Believing that the loss of the children resulted from their lack of faith, several Bergholz residents cut their hair and trimmed their beards to atone, but did not confine this ritual to their community, but used it to punish or harm others who were not Bergholz members. In 2011, Bergholz members attacked nine individuals, slicing off the men’s beards and cutting the women’s hair. Religious and personal ties connected the victims to the Bergholz community. Members of the Bergholz community were indicted for violating, and conspiring to violate, the Hate Crimes Prevention Act, on a theory that that they assaulted the victims “because of” their religious beliefs, 18 U.S.C. 249(a)(2)(A); for concealing evidence; and for making false statements to the FBI. No defendant disputed that the assaults happened; few disputed that they participated. A jury found that four attacks amounted to hate crimes and convicted 16 defendants. The court rejected the defendants’ proposed jury instruction (that the faith of the victims must be a “but for” cause of the assaults) and adopted the government’s proposed instruction (that the faith of the victims must be a “significant factor”). The Sixth Circuit reversed, based on a Supreme Court holding (Burrage (2014)) that the court should have given a but-for instruction.View "United States v. Mullet" on Justia Law