Story by Jonathan Turner, QuadCities.com
Public education and religious freedom have long been big issues, up to the present day. And the latest documentary from Moline-based Fourth Wall Films explores a landmark U.S. Supreme Court case relating to the Amish community.
“The Amish Incident: Wisconsin vs. Yoder,” produced by award-winning and Mid-America Emmy-nominated filmmakers Kelly and Tammy Rundle (Country School: One Room - One Nation), will be presented on Tuesday, Dec. 29 at 6:30 p.m. for a special Wisconsin Humanities free online screening via Facebook. A Q&A session with the Rundles and Dr. Shawn Peters, author of “The Yoder Case,” will follow the film.
Viewers can attend the event at www.facebook.com/Fourth-Wall-Films-173844695995934
The Amish Incident: Wisconsin vs Yoder explores the battle over education and parental rights that emerged from a small Amish community near New Glarus, Wis. The 1968 conflict began when Amish parents removed their children from public schools over a state law compelling education beyond the 8th grade.
Three Amish fathers (including Jonas Yoder) were convicted and fined for truancy violations. As a rule, the Amish do not “go to law” to resolve legal conflicts, but with help offered by an outside legal team, the subsequent trial and appeals culminated in a dramatic 1972 U.S. Supreme Court decision that defined how Wisconsin and other states facilitate education for Amish children, according to Fourth Wall Films.
The new half-hour doc is a companion piece to their 2019 “The Amish Incident: Rural Conflict & Compromise,” about a famous Iowa case from the 1960s.
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