Court says atheist was wrongly jailed over religious rehab

[rug]

Kimberly Winston | Aug 26, 2013

SAN FRANCISCO (RNS) An atheist parolee should be compensated by California after the state returned him to prison for refusing to participate in a religiously-oriented rehabilitation program, a federal court ruled Friday (Aug. 23).

A three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously ruled that a lower court judge erred when he denied Barry A. Hazle Jr., a drug offender and an atheist, a new trial after a jury awarded him no damages.

In a move that could have wider implications, the appeals court also ordered a Sacramento district judge to consider preventing state officials from requiring parolees attend rehabilitation programs that are focused on God or a “higher power.”

Hazle was serving time for methamphetamine possession in 2007 when, as a condition of his parole, he was required to participate in a 12-step program that recognizes a higher power. Hazle, a life-long atheist and member of several secular humanist groups, informed his parole officer that he did not want to participate in the program and would prefer a secular-based program.

http://www.religionnews.com/2013/08/26/court-says-atheist-was-wrongly-jailed-over-religious-rehab/

The opinion is on this list. Click on BARRY HAZLE, JR. V. MITCH CROFOOT 11-15354 for the 33 page pdf.

http://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/opinions/

http://www.cfiwest.org/sos/index.htm

[Hekate]

1. Never forget: this is the "faith based" legacy of George W. Bush, specifically. nt

[cbayer]

2. There are generally non-religious AA programs in major metropolitan areas.

I am surprised that he could not find one.

While some still refer to a higher power, some have very broadly interpreted this to things like willpower.

[Lordquinton]

4. It's still the same program

They claim "non-religious" and you can have it be "Willpower" or whatever, but it's just dressing, AA is entrenched in the whole God thing, and will make you very uncomfortable if you aren't a believer.

Unless you have a link to one of these no-god meetings.

[cbayer]

5. I agree that the foundations of AA are religiously based and that is problematic

for some people, but I also know that in some places there are meetings specifically for people who reject that concept.

It's too bad he didn't have alternatives. It creates a real catch 22 both for him and for the courts.

[rug]

6. There's lots.

http://www.aa-atheists.com/find-atheist-aa-groups/

[Lordquinton]

7. Nice, haven't seen that before

Still too few and far between, and this is no cover for court ordering in places that there is no alternative than a religious based program (the closest one to me, for example, is still quite far away). Saying "They are there" and that it's "A shame he couldn't find one" if there aren't any near him, then he is still essentially being sentenced into a religious program.

There are other issues with the 12 steps, but that are not really religious in nature, so off topic.

[rug]

8. I agree with that. Recovery should not be court-ordred. It only sets up probation violations.

As far as AA goes, the people in the particular group is the key. The fact that these groups are explicitly atheist or agnostic says a lot about them. It likely leads to interesting meetings. There are a lot of groups for different people.

I got sober through AA in NYC. When I was living in Greenwich Village I hit a rough patch and went to any meeting I could find. I ended up going to a lot of gay meetings, Hispanic meetings and a women's AA meeting. While the purpose of these groups is to allow people to share in a common frame of reference (e.g., if your triggers are the bar scene, or if you hit bottom while dropping your kid off at school, or if you simply can't stand the hypocrisy of religion, or any number of other scenarios) I never saw anyone turned away. It's a good group of people in my experience.

[freshwest]

3. There was a horrible story of a teenager arrested for pot and when he did the diversion route to

avoid prison time.

The state privatized the system and sent him to a half-way house run by a fundalmentalist group. But he refused to fake it and pretend he believed what they believed.

They told the court he had not lived up to the terms of his agreement when he didn't convert. His mother was the one to tell his story later, as he was sent to prison, his chances at school and a job destroyed, and he killed himself.

It was about not his now lying about believing what they insisted upon. And there was no other option made available for diversion so he was sent to prison.

The story of his last years from his mother was just heartbreaking. I've seen some of these groups get private contracts to take care of people and they abuse them spiritually.

It is a violation of the First Amendment to do this stuff. It's more like the Inquisition, forcing people to confess to a belief they do not have. IOW, they have to lie to survive and betray the freedom of their own mind and heart.

That is what the GOP wants, they want us to be so afraid we have to lie about the most intimate things in our lives.

Get out of our bodies, get out of our minds. We refuse to live as no more than programmable production units on an assembly line.

[LostOne4Ever]

9. Do you have any links to this story? (nt)