CLEVELAND (RNS) A federal judge has given defense attorneys until Thursday (Sept. 27) to convince him that nine Amish defendants convicted of hate crimes should not be imprisoned until their sentencing Jan. 24. By James McCarty.

CLEVELAND (RNS) Amish bishop Samuel Mullet was convicted Thursday of federal hate crimes and conspiracy for exhorting followers to forcibly shear the hair and beards of those who opposed his breakaway Ohio sect. By James F. McCarty.

CLEVELAND (RNS) Law officers testified Wednesday about the chaotic and bizarre scene they discovered when they arrived at the Holmes County home of Raymond Hershberger, a 79-year-old Amish bishop. By James F. McCarty.

CLEVELAND (RNS) Defense lawyers say a compassionate desire to help wayward brethren return to strict Amish ways was what fueled a series of beard-cutting attacks. By James McCarty.

CLEVELAND (RNS)  The law of God will collide with the law of man this week in a crowded federal courtroom in Cleveland, where 16 Amish defendants -- 10 men with full beards, six women in white bonnets -- will stand trial on charges related to a series of beard- and hair-cutting attacks against fellow Amish men and women last year. By James F. McCarty.

CLEVELAND (RNS) Federal prosecutors will be allowed to question witnesses about Amish leader Sam Mullet’s sexual activities when the hate-crime trial of Mullet and 15 followers begins next week, a federal judge ruled Monday. By James McCarty.