Renegade Amish: Beard Cutting, Hate Crimes, and the Trial of the Bergholz Barbers

How a series of violent Amish-on-Amish attacks shattered the peace of a peace-loving people and led to a new interpretation of the federal hate crime law.

On the night of September 6, 2011, terror called at the Amish home of the Millers. Answering a late-night knock from what appeared to be an Amish neighbor, Mrs. Miller opened the door to her five estranged adult sons, a daughter, and their spouses. It wasn't a friendly visit. Within moments, the men, wearing headlamps, had pulled their frightened father out of bed, pinned him into a chair, and—ignoring his tearful protests—sheared his hair and beard, leaving him razor-burned and dripping with blood. The women then turned on Mrs. Miller, yanking her prayer cap from her head and shredding it before cutting off her waist-long hair. About twenty minutes later, the attackers fled into the darkness, taking their parents' hair as a trophy.

Four similar beard-cutting attacks followed, disfiguring nine victims and...