Appeals court says requirement to attend AA unconstitutional

San Francisco Chronicle ^ | 9/8/7 | Bob Egelko

[SmithL]

Alcoholics Anonymous, the renowned 12-step program that directs problem drinkers to seek help from a higher power, says it's not a religion and is open to nonbelievers. But it has enough religious overtones that a parolee can't be ordered to attend its meetings as a condition of staying out of prison, a federal appeals court ruled Friday.

In fact, said the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, the constitutional dividing line between church and state in such cases is so clear that a parole officer can be sued for damages for ordering a parolee to go through rehabilitation at Alcoholics Anonymous or an affiliated program for drug addicts.

Rulings from across the nation since 1996 have established that "requiring a parolee to attend religion-based treatment programs violates the First Amendment," the court said. "While we in no way denigrate the fine work of (Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous), attendance in their programs may not be coerced by the state."

The 12 steps required for participants in both programs include an acknowledgment that "a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity" and a promise to "turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him." They also call for prayer and meditation.

Friday's 3-0 ruling allows a Honolulu man to go to trial in a suit on behalf of his late father, Ricky Inouye, who was paroled from a drug sentence in November 2000.

A Buddhist, he objected to religiously oriented drug treatment in prison, sued state officials over the issue and told Hawaii parole authorities just before his release that he would object to any condition that included a treatment program with religious content.

[stylin19a]

looks like the 9th got one right

[GeronL]

and defensive driving courses, rehab programs and half way houses are all unconstitutional too. as a matter of fact any and all punishment including probation is unconstitutional. so sayeth the high and mighty circus

[GeronL]

lol. by accident? nope, they just hate God.

[nmh]

As usual the atheistic 9th court is paranoid and gets it WRONG again. Stupid court for stupid people.

[nmh]

Why bother to punish anyone?

Any punishment should be unconstitutional.

Right?

;)

[Lovebloggers]

“When Inouye was arrested for trespassing in March 2001 and tested positive for drugs, his parole officer, Mark Nanamori, ordered him to attend a Salvation Army treatment program that included participation in Narcotics Anonymous meetings, the court said.

Inouye showed up but refused to participate, dropped out after two months, and, for that and other reasons, was sent back to prison in November 2001 for violating his parole.”
________

The drugs and “other reasons” are not offensive to his personal religious beliefs however, just the drug treatment with the higher power references.

[bill1952]

In fact, said the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco

Stopped reading right there. The most overturned circus in American history is a bad joke, and no, they didn't get anything right. And I am not a theist.

[SmithL]

Maybe, but it sure wasn’t this one.

[expatpat]

Another 9th reversal coming.....

[RightWhale]

The hospital and health care system is part of the justice system and rehab can be court ordered. However other rehab programs exist that are not religious affiliated and can be ordered without violating that Amendment. It’s nearly to the point of ludicrous, but there it is.

[muawiyah]

Looks like the 9th is "sending a signal" telling us what their real problem is ~ not leftwing politics, nor bad ju-ju, nor sexual abnormalities ~ no, jus' plain old bunch of juicers and they don't like AA worth a darn.

A sober bunch of judges could recognize that AA is neither a religion nor a church. So could sober Freepers!

[GeronL]

the hospital and healthcare system is a part of the justice system?? huh??

oh brother. I really wish I could go mine an asteroid far far far away

[Calvin Locke]

So, you're saying that society is better off locking up an offender, on the taxpayer's dime, rather than giving *him* the option of attending meetings that encourages a 15 second verbalization of an acknowledgment of a higher power?

Oh, and it, the meat of the meeting, that is, might actually help over come the socially undesirable behavior to drive drunk?

[donnab]

pretty soon going to jail will be unconstitutional.

[joebuck]

Fine - it you can’t put them in rehab then just forgo probation and make them serve their entire sentence in jail.

[stratman1969]

Ping

[Misterioso]

I’ve recently read that 12-step programs have a low success rate and wonder if that indicates that the higher power is not as high as once believed.

[crazyshrink]

Perhaps the 9th would care to explain who “GOD” is. I she Buddha, Allah, Jehovah, or any number of other god’s.

After that, maybe they can explain to the rest of us how that idea promotes one religion or prohibits the free exercise thereof.

The First Amendment to the United States Constitution is a part of the United States Bill of Rights. It prohibits the federal legislature from making laws that establish religion (the “Establishment Clause”) or prohibit free exercise of religion (the “Free Exercise Clause”), laws that infringe the freedom of speech, infringe the freedom of the press, limit the right to assemble peaceably, or limit the right to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Amendment

[ontap]

Best solution of them all.

[lafroste]

I’ve recently read that 12-step programs have a low success rate and wonder if that indicates that the higher power is not as high as once believed.

Did what you read have recidivism rates for other types of programs as well?

[antiRepublicrat]

and defensive driving courses, rehab programs and half way houses are all unconstitutional too. as a matter of fact any and all punishment including probation is unconstitutional. so sayeth the high and mighty circus

Think of it this way -- as a Christian (I'm guessing), do you think it would be right for the court to force you to go to treatment that is based on the belief that submission to Allah is the only way to kick the habit?

There are non-religious alternatives to AA, send him to one of those. But saying that it's AA or jail is denying equal protection under the law based on a person's religious beliefs, or lack thereof.

[Always Right]

looks like the 9th got one right

Not in my lifetime.

[GeronL]

let the person choose which program to attend

[Prokopton]

The hospital and health care system is part of the justice system and rehab can be court ordered. However other rehab programs exist that are not religious affiliated and can be ordered without violating that Amendment. It’s nearly to the point of ludicrous, but there it is.

Typically, rehab cannot be ordered in prison although it is available to inmates. Rehab can be ordered as a condition of parole or probation and, if the person refuses to go, his sentence, or time left on his sentence, can be executed.

I agree with the Court on this issue. AA programs are definitely based on a particular set of religious beliefs. Unless you except these beliefs, and proclaim publicly that you do, you cannot successfully complete the program. The government should not be able to tell a person that he either attends a religiously based program, of any kind, or he will be sent to jail or prison.

There are multitudes of rehab programs, some that are not based on religious beliefs. A person on parole or probation can just as easily be ordered to attend one of these programs, if he has a problem with 12 step programs, and the Constitutional issue becomes moot.

I don't see anything "ridiculous" about the Constitution or a Court, even the Ninth Circuit, making rulings consistent with it.

[sinanju]

People in AA have themselves been very divided on that point. AA is supposed to be strictly voluntary and many do not like the idea of anyone being forced to attend.

[NRA2BFree]

Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco.

I KNEW it was them before I even read it. It had their mark all over it. They are so evil......

[Charlespg]

Its time for congress to close the 9th Circus

[NurdlyPeon]

Fine - it you can’t put them in rehab then just forgo probation and make them serve their entire sentence in jail.

I'm with you. If the convicts prefer to to stay in prison and be somebody's "wife", rather than hear the word "God", I say let them stay in prison. Their choice.

[Global2010]

AA is free, what do offenders expect tax payers foot a Britney Spears resort rehab?

AA is in every town so one who travels and is ordered to attend by the court as part of their being found guilty or plea should have no excuse not to attend.

[Uncle Ike]

” I’ve recently read that 12-step programs have a low success rate “

As far as my own case is concerned, AA has a 100% success rate —

We’re here for the people who want it — It’s VOLUNTARY.

I can tell you that in the days when it was truly a program of ‘attraction rather than promotion’, we could figure on a success rate approaching a phenomenal 50%..

When the courts got involved and started ‘sentencing’ people to AA/NA, whether or not they personally felt the need to get sober, of course the percentage which came and stayed to recover dropped to slightly better than random....

/rant off....

(22 years C&S)

[Equality 7-2521]

This is all beside the fact that forcing someone to go to any type of counseling is a complete waste of time.

[tubebender]

No problem. Lock him up and forget about him. Why should I as a citizen be forced by the government to endorse his religion..

[joebuck]

"I’ve recently read that 12-step programs have a low success rate and wonder if that indicates that the higher power is not as high as once believed.

If someone really wants to get sober AA has a very good success rate. However, you can't force rehab on anyone if the don't want it. They will just play the game, say the things they are supposed to say, and get drunk as soon as they leave. They have to come to it, it can't be forced on them.

[BallyBill]

Sending someone to AA or rehab as a punishment will only waste the time of everyone involved.

[DoughtyOne]

You don’t even have to look at which court it is any longer, it’s so obvious.

Disolve the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and replace it with two new courts.

There has to be some relief from this rogue court.

[DoughtyOne]

I see it as one more hoop the offender has to jump through. The more hoops, perhaps the stupe will learn his/her lesson and modify their behavior.

Heck, make ‘em go for eighteen months or so as part of probation if it’s a drinking related crime.

I do realize what you’re talking about, as in people only benefit if they really want to change, and this sentence wasn’t their choice. I still think there’s value.

[Normal4me]

I’ll drink to that ruling.

[Emmett McCarthy]

I think the success rate for 12 Step programs which are, for all practical purposes, free (although they do pass the basket) is the same as those “treatment center” which can run upwards of $30,000 for a month’s stay. I also think that many people in AA and such are not actually alcoholics, but have a range of other problems which they can’t even begin to deal with as long as they’re drunk.

[bad company]

AA is free

AA is not free.

[Uncle Ike]

” Heck, make ‘em go for eighteen months or so as part of probation if it’s a drinking related crime. “

Excuse me??

I’m NOT a government employee!!

I am a member of a voluntary society dedicated to recovering from alcoholism and to *helping* others to do the same....

Please don’t inflict your unwilling, disruptive losers on me, thankyouverymuch.....

[Popocatapetl]

Court ordered rehab as a rule is even *less* effective than court ordered religion.

This is not to say that religion is bad in any way, just that court ordered rehab is often an aggravating leftist’s wet dream. It is having to attend his church.

To start with, the only objective measurement of success they have is that you “improve”. So if you start with no drugs or alcohol in your system, you FAIL. Marijuana users are specifically advised that they should smoke a LOT of marijuana before their first drug test. Then they can continue to smoke their normal amount for the duration of the program, and give it up for the last two weeks. Then they will “graduate” as ‘A’ students.

The second problem is that many such programs are run by squishy leftists with degrees in social control, er... “social work”. Many of them are neurotic martinets, who work for low pay for the perquisite of dominating other people. If you don’t agree with them in every way, including political soapboxing, you FAIL.

No demand is too ridiculous. They can experiment on you with pop psychology. They can demand you reveal private and personal information. Like Chinese Communists, they can and do demand self-criticism sessions in front of the rest of the “offenders”.

So there you are. You are graded with bad objective data and the subjective opinion of a Moonbat who attends every local “Nuclear Free Impeach Cheney Combat Global Warming Boycott McDonalds Stop The War” rally.

And you can’t leave until he says so.

[jmyrlefuller]

It prohibits the federal legislature from making laws that establish religion

No, it does not. It says "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion--" in other words, the establishments of religion (e.g. churches) are effectively off limits to Congress's legislation. It also says nothing about the rights of the states on this issue.

Now, that being said, I believe that the 9th Circus actually got this one right, although probably for the wrong reason. Alcoholics Anonymous is an organization based in religion, an "establishment of religion." As such, no federal law can bemade regarding it, which would probably include laws making you go as part of parole. Furthermore, since this was in the 9th Circus, it appears to be a federal matter and not a state issue.

Hey, even a blind squirrel finds a nut every once in a while.

[tubebender]

Here is a case of releasing DUI drivers...

Driver in Ruth Lake collision charged with homicide, DUI
9/7/2007

Cody Baker, driver in the fatal collision that killed four Humboldt County residents at Ruth Lake last weekend, was arraigned Friday afternoon.

Baker was charged with four counts of homicide, five counts of felony driving under the influence causing injury or death with special allegations for multiple victims, and driving on a suspended license and no proof of insurance.

Trinity County Deputy District Attorney Eric Heryford said the homicide charges resulted from Baker’s prior charge of driving under the influence and previous conviction of felony evading a peace officer.

No bail has been set.

Heryford said it appears Baker’s family will retain an attorney. A preliminary hearing will be set during a counsel appearance and entry of plea Wednesday.

FYI... there were 6 young adults in a Honda Civic. That is a crime in and of itself...

[DoughtyOne]

As a person who has attended hundreds of AA meetings, I expressed what my take on the problem was. I have an opinion too and I expressed it.

[mmanager]

What are you reading? You have no freak’n idea what you are talking about.

These meetings at A A are the last hope for millions, and it works. Your comments are ignorant. As are you.

[stylin19a]

it wasn’t an option. and that’s the key...

[narses]

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[narses]

	Stanford Report, May 23, 2001
	Study points out value of 12-step groups in treating substance abuse BY KRISTA CONGER Inpatient substance abuse treatment programs emphasizing the spiritually oriented "12-step" approach to addiction save money and promote abstinence more effectively than treatment programs that emphasize practical coping skills, say medical school researchers. Graduates from the 12-step-oriented programs slice their long-term health care costs by more than half by turning to community-based self-help groups rather than to professional mental health services for support in the year after discharge, say the researchers. They are also significantly more likely to remain abstinent in the year following their treatment. "Groups like Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous are taking a huge burden off of the health care system," said Keith Humphreys, PhD. "We found that addiction treatment programs are more effective and less expensive when they link patients to spiritually based self-help groups." Humphreys, assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, is the lead author of the study published in the May issue of Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research. Humphreys is also the associate director of the Program Evaluation and Resource Center at the Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System in Menlo Park, Calif. Although one-quarter of all deaths in this country are caused by alcohol, tobacco or illegal drugs, funding for substance abuse treatment programs nationwide has decreased dramatically in recent years, Humphreys said. "Most mental health treatment professionals are being asked to do more and more with less and less," he said. He and co-author Rudolf Moos, PhD, investigated whether free, community-based support groups could stand in for professional mental health treatment, reducing health care costs without compromising patient outcome. Humphreys studied 1,774 low-income, substance-dependent men who had been enrolled in inpatient substance abuse treatment programs at 10 Department of Veteran Affairs medical centers around the country. Five of the programs strongly emphasized the 12-step approach to addiction ­ a spiritually oriented philosophy that urges individuals to take responsibility for their actions and ask for help from God in conquering their dependency. These programs frequently hold Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous meetings on-site, and refer to the "Big Book" ­ an inspirational text that complements the 12 steps. The remaining five programs used an approach called cognitive-behavioral therapy that concentrates on teaching individuals coping skills to avoid relapse. These programs, which emphasized a medical and scientific approach to addiction treatment, spent only about 7 percent of treatment time discussing the 12-step approach. The men in the study were evenly divided between the two types of programs. Humphreys paired up men from the two programs whose mental health care costs in the year preceding treatment were similar. He then compared the mental health care costs between the men in the year following discharge. He found that the total mental health care costs for men enrolled in cognitive-behavioral programs were about $4,700 higher than those for men enrolled in 12-step-oriented programs, even though their starting values were similar. The cost difference was attributed to the increased likelihood of men enrolled in the 12-step-oriented approach to attend meetings of community- based self-help groups after discharge while also being less likely to seek help from traditional medical professionals to avoid relapsing. The 12-step-oriented programs were not only cost-efficient, they were also effective -- nearly 46 percent of the men in these programs were abstinent one year after discharge, compared to 36 percent of those treated in cognitive-behavioral programs. This may be due in part to strong endorsements from staff members at the 12-step-oriented programs who are more likely to be recovering addicts. "They tend to be people who really believe in the approach they're teaching," said Humphreys. "They are more likely to say, 'I can help you overcome your cocaine addiction, because I overcame one.'" Once the patients of these programs are discharged, they can call on self-help group members and sponsors they met during their treatment, creating a mutual support network that can in some ways mirror the support provided by professional counselors. The study suggests that it may be beneficial for treatment programs around the United States to incorporate more of the 12-step philosophy into their substance abuse therapies, and to increase their efforts to link patients with community-based self-help groups after discharge. "In the current health care climate, a clinical strategy that reduces the ongoing health care costs of substance abuse patients by 64 percent while also promoting good outcome deserves serious attention," Humphreys and Moos concluded in the paper. The study was funded by the Department of Veterans Affairs Mental Health Strategic Health Group, the Health Services Research and Development Service, and a VA Young Investigator Award for Humphreys. Moos is a professor of psychiatry and behavioral health sciences at Stanford University Medical Center and the director of the VA Center for Health Care Evaluation.

[Nachoman]

Considering alcholism and addiction is a spiritual disorder, its hard to become sober without a higher power.