This doesn't surprise me in the least. The reason for that is simply this: No matter how much the Amish, or any other counter-culture within the greater culture, seek to retain archaic ways and values of living, if they are going to subsist without harassment by the law in the modern United States, they know they have to modernize and modify their values and practices in at least a few significant ways. Eliminating underage marriages (not necessarily specifically children only) is something that the Amish are going to have to do, because with the power of that particular modern taboo, no state in the nation is going to honor the right of any Amish community to do otherwise. Various conservative Mormon communities likewise had to dispense with their traditional policy for allowing adult men to marry underage girls if they wanted to otherwise survive intact in the modern age. Such marriages do still go on "under the radar" in some particularly secluded Mormon communities, of course, and I imagine it likely happens in covert fashion with some Amish communities. When it does, of course, these communities are not going to trumpet the fact to any outsiders, nor are they going to risk demanding the retention of that right in any court of the land during the current political climate; they have too much to lose and little realistic chance of gaining, and they know that.

Hence, those Amish men you met in prison, regardless of whether or not their particular communities had intergenerational marriages or not, were almost guaranteed to tell you that they didn't. I don't think many Amish men would be foolish enough to admit to such a thing about their communities if it was true in a prison setting, of all places. If they did, it could easily come back to bite them and potentially their entire community in their collective asses in too many ways to count. It's very common in today's world to lie about such things if true for very obvious reasons, as our own community can attest, considering how the vast majority of MAAs presently make great efforts to conceal their feelings from almost anyone whom they know, maybe save for fellow MAAs. In fact, I would laugh at anyone who said, "But those Amish guys had no reason to lie about it if it was true, the law would have no choice but to respect that particular tradition under the Constitution if it was an important part of their beliefs." Mmmmhmmm, is anyone here seriously naive enough to believe something like that?

Now lest someone accuse me of wishful thinking or something, let me make it clear that I am not in any way suggesting that I know for a fact that these guys were lying when they said their particular community, or all the Amish communities in general, do not practice intergenerational marriage at all. What I am saying is simply this: Regardless of whether or not it was true, you can expect them to tell any outsider that it's not true, especially in a prison setting. This is not something that you can expect anyone to have "no reason to lie about" in today's political climate, especially if it's a very private and secluded community that wants to remain that way, and live free from legal censure and intervention from the outside world. The same would be the case if they were openly practicing any type of illegal sexual arrangement, including polygamy. Trust me, when it comes to this particular matter, you will not see a single state in the U.S. honoring a community's right to practice intergenerational marriages, even with the girl's choice taken into consideration, simply because it is or was part of their religious or cultural tradition.