Amish Won't Take Hate Crime Deal

No plea bargains for us, say sixteen people charged with hate crimes for trimming the hair and beards of fellow Amish

CLEVELAND — Sixteen people charged in beard- and hair-cutting attacks on fellow Amish in Ohio rejected government plea bargain offers of leniency Monday and will go to trial.

The defendants include members of an eastern Ohio breakaway Amish group. Prosecutors said the attacks were hate crimes. The defendants said they were internal church disciplinary matters not involving anti-Amish bias.