Book smart

Shawn Francis Peters, coordinator, Odyssey Project, Integrated Liberal Studies Program; “The Yoder Case: Religious Freedom, Education, and Parental Rights,” University Press of Kansas, 2003.

In the late 1960s, members of an Amish community in New Glarus, Wis., removed their children from public schools. When the state claimed truancy and took Jonas Yoder and two other parents to court, a legal battle of landmark proportions followed.

Shawn Francis Peters offers a complete account of the Yoder case and of the tortured decision of the Amish to break tradition and “go to law.” He examines the breadth of First Amendment protections for the Amish, the validity of compulsory school attendance, and the fundamental rights of parents and children. He also takes readers deep into the world of the Old Order Amish to show how their beliefs were often at variance with the very measures being undertaken to protect them.

While most accounts of Wisconsin v. Yoder have focused on its origins and implications, Peters lays out all the facts of the case to reveal their intrinsic importance. He draws on trial transcripts and in-depth interviews with participants to fully explore the backgrounds, motivations and strategies of the people who shaped the case. He then describes how the trial unfolded, explains the impact of First Amendment jurisprudence on ordinary citizens involved and shows how a relatively obscure dispute became a conflict of national importance.

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This feature highlights a book published in 2002 or 2003 by faculty or staff. To submit a tome, send an e-mail to wisweek@news.wisc.edu. Include author’s name, job title, department, research interests; book’s title, publisher and publication year; plus a 100- to 150-word summary.