Tag Archives: Barry A. Hazle Jr. Wins Federal Appeal Over 12 Step Program

Dangerous and Religious AA Meetings Should Not Be The Only Option for Drug Addiction or Alcoholics

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The news is finally getting out that this country needs better options than Alcoholics Anonymous or other 12 step programs for drug and alcohol addiction. AA is losing control over preventing anything negative being printed about them in the media. Thanks Chelsea Carmona for writing this excellent piece! AA has been an abysmal failure and the cause of many rapes, deaths and suicides.

TIME

Public Health

Alcoholics Need More Options than AA

It’s no surprise that faith-based programs are particularly ill-suited to atheists and agnostics

By  @CarmonaChelsea    Sept. 19, 2013

Should atheists be forced to participate in faith-based recovery programs such as Alcoholics Anonymous (AA)? The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals recently said no, unanimously siding with drug offender Barry A. Hazle Jr. after state officials mandated his participation in AA. Court documents state that Hazle’s requests for a secular alternative were repeatedly denied by both his parole officer and representatives from the state-contracted mental health service provider, West Care. For violating his parole, Hazle was arrested and incarcerated for over 100 additional days. NA Daytona Meetings in Daytona.

The appeals court ordered a Sacramento district judge to consider preventing state officials from requiring 12-step treatment as a part of the parole program. But it’s going to be difficult, because this one-size-fits-all prescription – 12-step meetings and 12-step-based group therapy for everyone – reigns supreme in treatment today. Nearly eight out of ten private programs use 12-step recovery, with two-thirds compelling patients to attend meetings, according to researchers working on the University of Georgia’s National Treatment Center Study and cited in Inside Rehab by Anne Fletcher. Public programs, frequently starved for funding, aren’t much better. In fact, West Care, California’s sole drug treatment provider, only contracts with religious-based treatment programs.

(MORE: Addiction Treatment in America: Not Based in Science, Not Truly Medical)

But even if they’re rarely acknowledged in today’s treatment community, there are many alternatives to 12-step fellowships such as SMART Recovery, Secular Organizations for Sobriety, and Specifically For Women. This is important because a national survey published in 2007 concluded that an addicted person was just as likely to stay sober whether they were involved in AA or another support group. In fact, it would behoove treatment providers to match people with a support system that’s suitable to their preferences, because group participation is associated with increased abstinence. Continue reading →

Atheist Parolee Forced to Attend 12 Step Drug Treatment Program Wins Federal Appeal for Monetary Damages

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Barry A. Hazle Jr.

Now we are talking! Yes!

Atheist parolee wins federal appeal, is entitled to damages in rights case

By Denny Walsh

Published: Saturday, Aug. 24, 2013 – 12:00 am
Last Modified: Sunday, Aug. 25, 2013 – 9:20 am

An atheist parolee who was sent back to prison after he balked at participating in a religious-oriented drug treatment program must receive monetary compensation, a federal appellate court ruled Friday. Volusia County Drug Court and St. Johns County Drug Court.

The ruling overturned the verdict of a Sacramento jury, which decided that Barry A. Hazle Jr. was not entitled to monetary damages, even though his constitutional rights had been violated. The 13 Step The Film Monica Richardson.

Hazle did a year in state prison on a drug conviction. When he got out, his parole agent, over Hazle’s strong objections, forced him to enter a treatment program that required acknowledgment of a higher power.

Hazle continued to complain, so he was removed from the program and arrested. His parole was revoked and he was thrown back in prison for an additional three months and 10 days. NA Daytona Meetings at Hollyland Park run off park patrons by intimidation.

In September 2008, Hazle sued California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation officials. Six weeks later, the department issued a directive that parole agents may not compel a parolee to take part in religious-themed programs. A parolee who objects should be referred to nonreligious treatment, the directive said, citing federal case law.

U.S. District Judge Garland E. Burrell Jr. found that Hazle’s forced participation in the program ran “afoul of the prohibition against the state’s favoring religion in general over non-religion,” thus violating rights guaranteed him by the Constitution.

But, when the case went to trial on the issue of money, the jury refused to award damages for his loss of liberty and emotional distress. Holly Hill City Commissioners under scrutiny.

Burrell denied Hazle’s motion for a new trial, ruling he had forfeited a challenge to the verdict by not objecting before the jury was discharged, and that the jury did not find a specific defendant responsible for damages.

A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Burrell is wrong on multiple issues. Continue reading →