ACLU sues over faith-based rehab

In a lawsuit filed on his behalf by the civil rights group, a 23-year-old Catholic man from Genesee County is asking a federal judge to set aside a drug conviction, saying he was punished for not completing a Pentecostal rehabilitation program. Joseph Hanas was 19 when he pleaded guilty to a marijuana possession charge in February 2001 in Genesee Circuit Court and was placed in a diversion program for young, non-violent offenders.

Upon the recommendation of a probation officer, Judge Robert Ransom sentenced Hanas to the state-sponsored rehabilitation program - the Inner City Christian Outreach Residential Program, run by a Pentecostal church.

Hanas said the program did not offer drug treatment or counseling, nor did it have any organized program other than reading the Bible and attending Pentecostal services. He said his rosary and prayer book was taken from him and his religion was denounced as “witchcraft.” Hanas said he was told his only chance of avoiding prison and a felony record was to convert to the Pentecostal faith.

.......

“This man was punished for insisting on the right to practice Catholicism and refusing conversion to the Pentecostal faith,” said Kary Moss, director of the Michigan ACLU.”


http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051206/METRO/512060440

The 'Goddless' ACLU is stepping to protect the rights of a Christian to practice his religion!

Somehow, I think the Freepers have selective memory when it comes to cases like this where the ACLU steps in to protect the rights of a Christian...

Fundies (at least the ones my spouse & I have encountered) don't regard Catholicism as Christianity. The ones we get to deal with here in the Houston, TX area seem to think that Catholicisnm is pagan, idol worship and not one of the roots of modern Christianity (my spouse has been called pagan and idol worshipper on MANY occassions, but she talks to 'em. I just slam the door in their faces).

and their whacked out agenda.

I've told her multiple times that their brand of (whatever it is) takes no prisoners, and pretty well considers her the n word.

One of these days, she'll find that out for herself- and all that brainwashing on AM radio will come tumbling down in front of her.

When I run across these born again types, I tell them that I was born right the first time.:)

up North of Beaumont, my husband's grandmother converted from Catholicism to fundie Pentecostal because "Catholics worship false idols".

Yes, this forced conversion bullshit is ridiculous and hopefully unconstitutional (one never knows these days).

But why does the criminal justice system have its claws in this guy in the first place? For smoking a joint?

It is way past time to end this goddamned drug war. It is the excuse for way too much of this crap.

with this "faith based" initiative. I hope he can prove what he said and that the court doesn't send him to jail. This organization needs to be thoroughly investigated.

with "faith based" initiatives. It's just a way to force conversion, if the only other alternative is prison. I also agree that the drug war has gotten way, way out of control. With our record deficits, we spend far too much on prosecuting and imprisoning non violent drug offenders. It's a waste of money, and causes far more harm than good.

Split the Catholics from the fundies.

http://www.lafayettejc.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051204/OPINION03/512040307/1144/OPINION

How the ACLU didn't steal Christmas

By Fran Quigley
For the Journal and Courier

When the angry phone calls and e-mails started arriving at the office, I knew the holiday season was upon us. A typical message shouted that we at the American Civil Liberties Union are "horrible" and "we should be ashamed of ourselves," and then concluded with an incongruous and agitated "Merry Christmas."

We get this type of correspondence a lot, mostly in reaction to a well-organized attempt by extremist groups to demonize the ACLU, crush religious diversity and make a few bucks in the process. Sadly, this self-interested effort is being promoted in the guise of defending Christmas.

<snip>

Of course, there is no "Merry Christmas" lawsuit, nor is there any ACLU litigation about U.S. currency, military chaplains, etc. But the facts are not important to these groups, because their real message is this: By protecting the freedom of Muslims, Jews and other non-Christians through preventing government entanglement with religion, the ACLU is somehow infringing on the rights of those with majority religious beliefs.

<snip>

As part of our justice mission, we work hard to protect the rights of free religious expression for all people, including Christians. For example, we recently defended the First Amendment rights of a Baptist minister to preach his message on public streets in southern Indiana. The ACLU intervened on behalf of a Christian valedictorian in a Michigan high school, which agreed to stop censoring religious yearbook entries, and supported the rights of Iowa students to distribute Christian literature at their school.

<snip>

To our "Merry Christmas" correspondents and all other Hoosiers, we wish you happy holidays.

Quigley is executive director of the Indiana Civil Liberties Union. As of Jan. 1, the organization is changing its name to ACLU of Indiana.

Everybody, the proponents included, knew this is what would happen.

Government forced religion.

anybody who said it wouldn't happen was a LIAR!

It is not a physically addictive drug. I wonder if he got sent to this program because the medical professionals who run the secular programs did not feel that Mr. Hanas needed inpatient rehab, even though the court ordered it. Most courts understand this, and thus mandate drug testing and individual counseling, not full-scale rehab, unless the user is cross addicted to other drugs. Most guys on probation for a petty pot charge will do whatever the court orders them to do, because they don't want to go to jail.

1. All 12 step programs are religious in nature, unless it is like Rational Recovery, that is purposely not religious.
2. This guy should never have been in court. Marijuna should be legalized and taxed, with the revenues going to pay for recovery programs for crack, meth and heroin addicts, not to mention alcoholics and pill addicts.
3. Catholic Social Services probably could have helped this guy with counseling, and possibly helping with other service needs. His lawyer should have looked into it.

All of that stuff is nothing but blatant religious manipulation. :grr:

As an agnostic I still found AA helped me get sober and find a "Higher Power" of my own choosing to help me thru it.

I remember in one meeting that an old timer said that your higher power can be a doorknob if you like. It aint a jesus thing its a "Spiritual" thing.

In california most pot heads are sent to NA

As for pot being harmless... I was "addicted" to it for over 18 years. I Lost a lot of life being stoned.

I visited a friend's AA once and they definitely didn't have any kind of atheistic slant. Neither one of us appreciated it. Also, you may have "lost a lot of life" but nobody I know did, so just go enjoy your sobriety without preaching to those who don't.

LOL

They should fight this.

What fooled a lot of religious folk about faith-based initiatives was the illusion that it would be inclusive, that their own sect would be safe and would profit from the association.

Bob Jones University's bookstore has books about Roman Catholicism shelved with "Cults." Cardinal Mahoney, not to be outdone, thinks Buddhism is "licentious," among other nice words. And so it goes.

"Faith-based initiatives" were a bad idea from the outset, and highly dangerous to religious freedom. While Catholic Social Services has a long history of utilizing trained social workers, from the outset of Bush's hairbrained scheme one could see the whole notion of professionalism was being chucked out the window in favor of prayer and church attendance.

This story is really sick. The guy was 19 when he got busted for pot and this is four years later and he's still trying to get free of the fundies' control? This is just sick on so many levels.

Hekate
:argh:

Can we get Tom Cruise and the Scientologists out of the drug rehab business? Please? Pretty please?

...sometimes I get irked by some of our positions. I maintain that ANY rehab is better than none. Certainly better than incarceration which helps no one.