The U.S. Justice Department indicted 12 members of an Amish sect for shaving the hair and beards of non-sect Amish people.  A grand jury indicted the Amish sect's leader, Samuel Mullet Sr., along with 11 other followers.

The defendants were charged with violations of the federal hate crime law (the Matthew Shepard-James Byrd Hate Crimes Prevention Act), which carries a potential life sentence.  The defendants were also charged with obstruction of justice.

The alleged crimes were the result of religious disputes with other Ohio Amish.  The defendants are accused of planning and carrying out assaults "on their perceived religious enemies." 

According to authorities, "The assaults all entailed using scissors and battery-powered clippers to forcibly cut or shave the beard hair of the male victims and the head hair of the female victims.  During each assault, the defendants restrained and held down the victims."

After the assaults, some of the defendants are accused of concealing or attempting to conceal evidence including a camera, photographs "and an over-the-counter medication that was allegedly placed in the drink of one of the assault victims."

The way that Amish men wear their beards and Amish women wear their hair are symbols of their faith.  That's why someone cutting their hair and beards can be considered a hate crime.

"Every American has the right to worship in the manner of his or her choosing without fear of violent interference," said Thomas Perez, assistant attorney general for the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division.

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A common question people ask is what is the difference between murder and manslaughter?  The definitions of these crimes vary somewhat from state to state, but a recent California trial provides a good example for generally understanding what constitutes murder versus voluntary manslaughter.

A 14 year old eighth grader shot and killed an openly gay 15 year old classmate.  Evidence showed Larry King had worn high heels and makeup to school, and that he often teased Brandon McInerney.  McInerney brought a gun to school and shot King twice in the back of the head while they were in English class.  He had told a friend the day before that he planned to bring a gun to school the next day.

McInerney was tried as an adult.  The prosecution theory was that this was a first-degree murder, planned, contemplated and discussed in advance, and carried out with conscious intent to kill.  The defense presented the case of an overwhelmed child who felt sexually harassed by the gay teen's unwanted attention and snapped.  There was no dispute that McInerney pulled the trigger.  The only question was his state of mind.

Murder in California is a killing with malice aforethought.  Malice is found when the defendant intended to kill.  If a murder is committed with premeditation and deliberation, it is first-degree murder.  (There are other ways of elevating a murder from second to first degree, but they aren't relevant here.)

A murder can be reduced to voluntary manslaughter if the person acted in the heat of passion.  A killing in the heat of passion requires 1) that the defendant was provoked, 2) that the provocation caused the defendant to act rashly and under the influence of intense emotion that obscured his judgment and reasoning, and 3) the provocation would have caused the average person to act rashly.  In other words, the defendant was so provoked by what the victim did, and reasonably so, that he acted out of intense emotion rather than deliberate judgment.

The jury was unable to make a decision in this case, and a mistrial was declared.  McInerney will have to be tried again.  The jury simply could not decide whether McInerney acted deliberately or in the heat of passion.

UPDATE 11/21/11:  McInerney pled guilty to second-degree murder and voluntary manslaughter, accepting a sentence of 21 years in prison, and avoiding a second trial.

For more about the differences between murder and manslaughter, check out the Resources section.