Justice has been served! Barry Hazle Reaches a 2 million dollar settlement for being forced to attend a 12 step based program. This should put a damper on all the mandating of AA and NA meetings and 12 step rehab programs across this country. Something needs to stop the unconstitutional coercion of religious AA and NA meetings and 12 step rehabs programs!
Seven-Figure Settlement for Atheist Calif. Addict
By TIM HULL October 14th 2014
(CN) – A California atheist who was jailed after refusing to join a 12-step program because of its religious themes reached a $2 million settlement, his attorney said Tuesday.
Barry Hazle sued his parole officer, California corrections officials and Westcare Corp. after they revoked his probation for a drug conviction.
After pleading no-contest in 2006 to possession of methamphetamine, Hazle said he told officials several times that his atheism made him reluctant to participate in religious-treatment programs
In 2007, however, Hazle was allegedly paroled to a 90-day residential program that offered only the 12 Steps, many of which call for explicit acceptance of God.
Finding Hazle “disruptive,” though in a “congenial way,” for refusing to participate, staff reported him to his parole office, who sent him back to prison for about 100 days.
Hazle then filed a federal civil rights action seeking damages for false imprisonment, among other things.
U.S. District Judge Garland Burrell in San Francisco found that the defendants’ decision to return Hazle to prison had violated the First Amendment. Burrell turned the issue over to a jury to determine the amount of damages, but the jurors came back with an award of no damages.
Hazel appealed to the 9th Circuit after Judge Burrell refused his move for a new trial, and a three-judge appellate panel ruled in August 2013 that some kind of compensation was mandatory, “given this undisputed finding that Hazle’s constitutional rights were violated.”
The appellate panel also reversed the lower court’s summary judgment in favor of Westcare and remanded Hazle’s civil rights claims against the state contractor for trial.
The parties filed a stipulation Tuesday for voluntary dismissal with prejudice in Sacramento.
Under the settlement, Hazle will dismiss his civil-rights claims in exchange for $1 million from the state and $925,000 from Westcare, San Franciso-based attorney John Heller said.
“The settlement compensates Hazle for the violation of his rights, and for litigation fees and costs in the lengthy trial and appellate proceedings,” Heller said in a statement. Attorneys for the state and Westcare Corp. did not immediately return a request for comment.
Taxpayers pay for this cult religion to brainwash people and force them into a dangerous cult religion. Lovely. This is SO wonderful. You do not have to be an Atheist to decline coercion into this cult. You have rights!
Exactly Counselorchick, some think you need to prove you are an atheist to not be forced to the AA church! No religion is to be forced on any American without a secular option. As an American are we required to disclose our religious beliefs? I don’t think so!
http://gsowatch.aamo.info/index.htm
Sorry Anti D. for all the link posting, but my jaw is dropping as I’m reading about some of this “insider” information! These people are incredibly weird! I did not know that there were “members” watching “member”.
If you scroll down on the web page you’ll see things like:
http://gsowatch.aamo.info/ofaa/index.htm
had you seen this?
http://gsowatch.aamo.info/silence.htm
An insider’s take on AA’s Code of Silence and it’s subculture. He’s probablly not in AA anymore………………..
What a bunch of malarky…………………
http://aamo.info/aa/history/mklibrary/openletter.htm
I didn’t know that there was an “AA minority Opinion”. Here are writing about copyright issues regarding the 1st and 2nd Edition of the BB. Boy, even insiders will protect their bottom line which is the literature. You were right in an earlier post to me about AA not wanting to take responsibility for lack of safety adherence, especially when it’s an open door to all the sickos of the world.
Lo and behold, they protected their copyrights with great success so that AAWS could reprint the 1st edition of the bb and sell it for it’s 80th anniversary. How humble is that?
These people are outright arrogant……
Hi Anti D.,
Here’s a more recent case involving a lawsuit against the state of Nebraska re. required attendance of a young man who had a promising career as a massage therapist………
http://www.kearneyhub.com/news/regional/fremont-man-sues-for-being-required-to-attend-alcoholics-anonymous/article_2efafb5e-199b-11e4-ac66-0019bb2963f4.html
The parole officer nor Westcare, are part of or affiliated with AA or NA or any other 12 step program. IF Westcare, as part of their program, utilizes 12 step materials that doesn’t make them AA, it simply means they can run their business how they see fit (America, freedom, capitalism and all that patriotic stuff). IF the CRIMINAL didn’t want to go to a ‘program’ he should have not asked for a deal and should have done his time…or even better, it you don’t want to go to jail, stop committing crimes!
I disagree, I believe both the court system, parole officer and Westcare are affiliated with AA. Whether they are or not Westcare was based on on a 12 step program that has been deemed by the courts to be religious. It is against the constitution to force even criminals to religion. That is why he won the 2 million dollars.
Here’s a Supreme Court ruling re. what is being discussed here.
http://www.secularhumanism.org/library/shb/sos_13_2.html
Thanks Marchon, I will check it out.
This really does make the 12 step solution look stupid and I am glad that he has been awarded damages. Most people have no idea about the God side of AA or the praying to a higher power until they get involved with it.
I agree Lovinglife52 that most people are clueless that AA or NA is religious until they start going. I find this odd since AA seems to be such a household name, but there is actually little known about AA, including dangerous people being mandated to these 12 step programs.
UPDATED: Shasta County atheist to get $2 million for First Amendment violation
Oct 14, 2014
The California government and a nonprofit will pay a Shasta County atheist nearly $2 million for violating his civil rights when he was sent back to prison for taking issue with a religious drug-treatment program while on parole.
Barry Hazle Jr. and his attorney, John G. Heller, announced the settlement this morning at a press conference in San Francisco.
Hazle was imprisoned for just over 100 days after taking issue with the drug-treatment program that centered on submitting one’s fate to a “higher power.” Heller said the program also included prayer and references to God.
But when Hazle asked for another treatment program, he was told Westcare’s 12-step program was the only one available.
Probation officials eventually sent him back to prison at California Rehabilitation Center in Norco, where he had already spent a year on drug possession charges that were overturned by an appeals court, according to court documents. Their decision was based on Hazle allegedly being “disruptive, though in a congenial way, to the staff as well as other students…sort of passive-aggressive,” and needing further treatment, according to court documents.
“I’m thrilled to finally have this case settled,” Hazle said Tuesday. “It sends a clear message to people in a position of authority, like my parole agent, for example, that they not mandate religious programming for their parolees, and for anyone else, for that matter.”
Hazle is the son of Maline Hazle, the Record Searchlight’s editorial page editor.
A judge initially ruled that Hazle’s rights had been violated, but a jury didn’t award him any damages. Hazle made a motion for a new trial on the grounds that he was entitled to compensatory damages, but it was denied by district court, only to be reversed later. A 9th Circuit Court of Appeals judge then ruled in August 2013 that compensatory damages are mandatory in the case of unconstitutional imprisonment, and that the jury had been misinstructed, resulting in Monday’s settlement.
The money is meant to compensate for the violation of Hazle’s First Amendment religious rights, as well as to pay for the legal costs of the lengthy court battle. Heller noted that the prison where Hazle was sent also was “overcrowded and dangerous for both inmates and guards,” according to a statement by former Gov. Arnrold Schwarzenegger, so the suit included compensation for “physical and emotional symptoms and injuries,” as well.
The settlement of the six-year court case is made up of $1 million from the state and $925,000 from Westcare California Inc., the contractor that offered only a religious rehabilitation program for parolees such as Hazle.
In response to the settlement, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation did not comment other than to say, “There was a finding of liability, which meant that CDCR would have been responsible for damages and attorney fees. In lieu of a second trial, CDCR negotiated a settlement in the amount of $1,000,000. Currently, CDCR does not require a 12-step program as a condition of parole.”
Peggy Quigg, chief of staff for Westcare, said the company’s policy is not to comment on final court rulings.
http://www.redding.com/news/local-news/shasta-county-atheist-to-get-2-million-for-first-amendment-violation
ANOTHER AWESOME ANTI-AA STORY! 2 for 2 in today’s lawsuits against A.A.! 😉
Yes 2 big historical stories in one day!
Calif. atheist awarded $2 million after being re-jailed for refusing faith-based rehab
Published on October 14, 2014
A Northern California man was awarded almost $2 million in a settlement after prison officials sent him back to jail for refusing to take part in a faith-based treatment program for drug offenders because he is an atheist.
According to the Redding Record Searchlight, Barry Hazle Jr. will receive $1 million from state officials and $925,000 from Westcare California, the contractor in charge of the program, which called for attendees to submit themselves to a “higher power” and pray.
“I’m thrilled to finally have this case settled,” Hazle said on Tuesday. “It sends a clear message to people in a position of authority, like my parole agent, for example, that they not mandate religious programming for their parolees, and for anyone else, for that matter.”
The dispute between Hazle and the state began in 2007, when he was ordered to take part in the Westcare program as part of his probation in connection with possession of methamphetamine. The Huffington Post reported in August 2013 that Hazle asked for a non-religious alternative, but was denied.
Hazle subsequently entered the Westcare program, but was arrested for violating his probation for being “disruptive, though in a congenial way, to the staff as well as other students.” He was sent back to the state prison in Norco.
He served nearly 100 days there on top of his already-completed sentence and sued, saying his imprisonment violated his First Amendment rights. But a district court refused to award him compensatory damages, while upholding his argument.
However, a federal appeals court ruled last year that Hazle was damages were mandatory in cases such as his, setting the stage for the settlement.
http://www.newsaddicted.com/2014/10/14/calif-atheist-awarded-2-million-after-being-re-jailed-for-refusing-faith-based-rehab/