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TAMPA, Fl (May 3, 2006) – The Appellate
Division of State Supreme Court ruled on April 28, 2006 that
Stephen and Linda Voith would not be able to keep cows in
their private property in the village of Angelica in New York.
On April 2, 2006, the Hindu American Foundation (HAF), along
with other Hindu, Jain and religious freedom groups, filed
an amicus (friend of the court) brief with the 4th Department
Appellate Court expressing concern that local laws were being
misused to unfairly discriminate against the couple who harbored
the cattle for religious purposes.
The couple has kept the cows in accordance
with the Hindu belief of goraksha (cow protection)
and for a religious procession known as a padayatra.
In traditional Hindu society, bovines are kept on private
property only for agrarian purposes. Cows which are used for
religious ceremonies are housed in special constructed goshalas
or cow protection shelters.
The Voiths, who first moved into village
located in the foothills of the Appalachian foothills in 1999,
have been fighting local officials for the past seven years
to raise cows on their private property. Officials ordered
the couple to expel the cows from their land citing a 1986
ordinance disallowing cattle on lots which are less than 10
acres in size. The couple kept their cow, Chintamani, on a
nearby farm but later moved her and her calves to their property
in 2001. In addition, they also leased an additional twelve
acres to comply with the law. However, despite their attempts,
village officials denied their application for a permit.
“Our neighbor runs a beef farm behind
our house. He is allowed to raise beef cows and billy goats
on a one acre parcel right next to our property," says
Stephen Voith, "Only our cows have been banned."
The Voiths then took the issue to court.
During their trial at the County Court level, the couple was
not allowed to testify, or to bring up First Amendment religious
rights issues and the case was ruled that it "has nothing
to do with religion.” After the verdict was challenged,
on April 28, 2006, the appeals court ruled that “contrary
to the contention of defendants, neither their leasing of
the 12 acre noncontiguous parcel nor their regard of their
animals as their companions or pets brings them into compliance
with the ordinance".
“The purpose of HAF's efforts in these
proceedings was to ensure true religious freedom for all faiths,
including Hinduism,” said Nikhil Joshi, Esq, member
of the Hindu American Foundation Board of Directors. “The
governmental restrictions that have severely limited the Voiths'
right to foster and protect their cows casts an unconstitutional
prophylactic blanket upon the Voiths' ability to espouse freely
their religious beliefs."
The Hindu American Foundation is a non-profit
501(c)(3), non-partisan organization, promoting the Hindu
and American ideals of understanding, tolerance and pluralism.
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