I'm writing this blog for several reasons.
The first, and most important, is to voice my outrage at being forced by the State of New Hampshire to practice a religion I don't believe in. I was arrested and pleaded guilty to a DUI. in 2010. It was wrong, I am very sorry, and I am willing to go through a reasonable punitive and rehabilitative process. However, as a U.S. citizen, I should not be subject to a process run by evangelicals or forced to practice religion. I, like thousands of other New Hampshire residents found guilty of DUI, am being forced to complete State-sponsored Impaired Driver Intervention Programs (IDIPs), see Licensed Alcohol and Drug Counselors (LADCs), and attend Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meetings for up to a year. Everyone I've encountered in this process is a former alcoholic and true believer in AA. Because the people in charge of making the determination of whether or not I've been rehabilitated are AA evangelicals, I have to pretend that I'm "with the program" in order to get my driving license back. This involves repenting and praying at AA meetings, and lying about my religious beliefs to my LADC who I must report to weekly for "therapy." For any State to do this is a blatant violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, and abhorrent to the values on which this country was founded. Moreover, as a citizen, I resent my tax money being used to line the pockets of these organizations.
A second reason is to reveal the ineffectiveness and the religious/cult-ish nature of the twelve-step recovery movement, Alcoholics Anonymous. These recovery programs have been repeatedly and unanimously adjudged by the courts to be religious in nature. They have been proven by repeated, rigorous scientific studies to be ineffective, or worse. Real alcoholics need to be properly diagnosed and treated. Our current court-mandated programs see everyone as an alcoholic and prescribe treatment that is ineffective.
A third reason is to criticize the irrationality of religion in general, and to write about religious groups constant attempts to violate our First Amendment guarantees of being free from "the establishment of any law respecting religion." I don't care what idiotic God you worship (Xenu, The Flying Spaghetti Monster, Jehovah, Jesus) just don't force me to, okay? That's not too much to ask, is it?
A fourth reason is to tell my story and provide others with realistic expectations of the consequences of a DUI arrest and conviction. Roughly 5,000 people a year are arrested for DUI in New Hampshire, whose total population is only 1.3 million. If you drink and drive, or legally take medication and drive, it is highly probable that you will be arrested for DUI. In addition, New Hampshire has some of the harshest penalties. You or someone you know will likely be arrested for DUI I want you to know what you are in for in you've been arrested, or scare you if you haven't yet been arrested and drink and drive.
I was unaware of the full consequences of a DUI conviction. I entered into this process largely blind. My experience has been a series of one surprise after another. I still haven't gotten my license back, and I'm not sure when I will. This has been a long, frustrating, expensive and cryptic experience. Though the law is unambiguous, the administrative procedure is riddled with hidden traps. The administrative portion of the DUI requires subjective determinations of your progress through the rehabilitation process. Christian fundamentalist AA true-believers will be making these determinations. You will need to know what they want to hear.
A fifth reason is to chronicle the abuse of authority I and others have witnessed by the administrators of the Impaired Driver Intervention Programs. Administrators, working through very profitable organizations like Amethyst Foundation, Inc., routinely punish DUI offenders for vagaries such as "complaining" and "noncompliance" by withholding their driving privileges for over a year or more, while forcing them to attend AA meetings and LADC counseling sessions. These administrators feel compelled to inflict as much pain as possible, and are virtually unaccountable to anyone.
There is very little information on the web about this. The laws, administrative rules and regulations are there, but there is nothing about what you will actually go through. I wish there had been something there for me when I needed it. I hope this blog helps someone in a similar situation. Good luck.
A final reason for my creating this blog is to maintain my sanity. I'm being forced to attend AA meetings where people pray, chant in unison, make undignified public confessions, deny reality and reason, talk about their religious conversion and salvation, and pressure others to behave similarly. The duration of my license suspension depends upon whether I am deemed "rehabilitated." The people who make this determination are former drunks who are now gung-ho AA members: Licensed Alcohol and Drug Counselors (LADCs), LADC-in-training, and others involved in the New Hampshire recovery system. They believe one drink makes you an "alcoholic"--someone with a life-long, incurable, progressive disease that only lifelong AA attendance and religious conversion will prevent you from dying from. They are spiteful, bitter, stupid people, who, now given some power and acknowledgement for probably the first time in their life, now desire to force their will on others and hurt them. My privilege to drive--to work, to mandated AA and counseling sessions, to the grocery store, to the drug store, to medical providers, etc...--in a rural area with no public transportation or affordable private transportation, is at the mercy of fervent, religious fundamentalists who want to repeatedly destroy my dignity to bolster their own damaged self-esteem.
The first, and most important, is to voice my outrage at being forced by the State of New Hampshire to practice a religion I don't believe in. I was arrested and pleaded guilty to a DUI. in 2010. It was wrong, I am very sorry, and I am willing to go through a reasonable punitive and rehabilitative process. However, as a U.S. citizen, I should not be subject to a process run by evangelicals or forced to practice religion. I, like thousands of other New Hampshire residents found guilty of DUI, am being forced to complete State-sponsored Impaired Driver Intervention Programs (IDIPs), see Licensed Alcohol and Drug Counselors (LADCs), and attend Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meetings for up to a year. Everyone I've encountered in this process is a former alcoholic and true believer in AA. Because the people in charge of making the determination of whether or not I've been rehabilitated are AA evangelicals, I have to pretend that I'm "with the program" in order to get my driving license back. This involves repenting and praying at AA meetings, and lying about my religious beliefs to my LADC who I must report to weekly for "therapy." For any State to do this is a blatant violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, and abhorrent to the values on which this country was founded. Moreover, as a citizen, I resent my tax money being used to line the pockets of these organizations.
A second reason is to reveal the ineffectiveness and the religious/cult-ish nature of the twelve-step recovery movement, Alcoholics Anonymous. These recovery programs have been repeatedly and unanimously adjudged by the courts to be religious in nature. They have been proven by repeated, rigorous scientific studies to be ineffective, or worse. Real alcoholics need to be properly diagnosed and treated. Our current court-mandated programs see everyone as an alcoholic and prescribe treatment that is ineffective.
A third reason is to criticize the irrationality of religion in general, and to write about religious groups constant attempts to violate our First Amendment guarantees of being free from "the establishment of any law respecting religion." I don't care what idiotic God you worship (Xenu, The Flying Spaghetti Monster, Jehovah, Jesus) just don't force me to, okay? That's not too much to ask, is it?
A fourth reason is to tell my story and provide others with realistic expectations of the consequences of a DUI arrest and conviction. Roughly 5,000 people a year are arrested for DUI in New Hampshire, whose total population is only 1.3 million. If you drink and drive, or legally take medication and drive, it is highly probable that you will be arrested for DUI. In addition, New Hampshire has some of the harshest penalties. You or someone you know will likely be arrested for DUI I want you to know what you are in for in you've been arrested, or scare you if you haven't yet been arrested and drink and drive.
I was unaware of the full consequences of a DUI conviction. I entered into this process largely blind. My experience has been a series of one surprise after another. I still haven't gotten my license back, and I'm not sure when I will. This has been a long, frustrating, expensive and cryptic experience. Though the law is unambiguous, the administrative procedure is riddled with hidden traps. The administrative portion of the DUI requires subjective determinations of your progress through the rehabilitation process. Christian fundamentalist AA true-believers will be making these determinations. You will need to know what they want to hear.
A fifth reason is to chronicle the abuse of authority I and others have witnessed by the administrators of the Impaired Driver Intervention Programs. Administrators, working through very profitable organizations like Amethyst Foundation, Inc., routinely punish DUI offenders for vagaries such as "complaining" and "noncompliance" by withholding their driving privileges for over a year or more, while forcing them to attend AA meetings and LADC counseling sessions. These administrators feel compelled to inflict as much pain as possible, and are virtually unaccountable to anyone.
There is very little information on the web about this. The laws, administrative rules and regulations are there, but there is nothing about what you will actually go through. I wish there had been something there for me when I needed it. I hope this blog helps someone in a similar situation. Good luck.
A final reason for my creating this blog is to maintain my sanity. I'm being forced to attend AA meetings where people pray, chant in unison, make undignified public confessions, deny reality and reason, talk about their religious conversion and salvation, and pressure others to behave similarly. The duration of my license suspension depends upon whether I am deemed "rehabilitated." The people who make this determination are former drunks who are now gung-ho AA members: Licensed Alcohol and Drug Counselors (LADCs), LADC-in-training, and others involved in the New Hampshire recovery system. They believe one drink makes you an "alcoholic"--someone with a life-long, incurable, progressive disease that only lifelong AA attendance and religious conversion will prevent you from dying from. They are spiteful, bitter, stupid people, who, now given some power and acknowledgement for probably the first time in their life, now desire to force their will on others and hurt them. My privilege to drive--to work, to mandated AA and counseling sessions, to the grocery store, to the drug store, to medical providers, etc...--in a rural area with no public transportation or affordable private transportation, is at the mercy of fervent, religious fundamentalists who want to repeatedly destroy my dignity to bolster their own damaged self-esteem.
(A standard, boilerplate, legal disclaimer up front. None of what I write in this blog should be construed as legal advice. I make no claims, promises or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained here. The law changes very rapidly and, accordingly, I do not guarantee that any information on this blog or is accurate and up to date. Additionally, the law differs from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and is subject to interpretation of courts located in each county. Legal advice must be tailored to the specific circumstances of each case and the tools and information provided to you may not be an appropriate fit in your case. Nothing that you read or is provided on this web site should be used as a substitute for the advice of competent legal counsel.)
HI I am glad to read your blog. I have read a bit and am so sorry this is happening to you. I hope you can write about this on my blog. Please feel free to post your link or I will so others may read this horror story. I agree. These laws need to change. But I believe you could sue the state. They are telling yo to do something against your civil rights . They can not sentence you to a religious cult.
ReplyDeleteyou may contact me directly at makeaasafer@gamil.com
I too would be furious.
Monica,
ReplyDeleteSo nice to hear from you. I'm quite busy right now, but rest assured I will be in touch.
Atheos
Love your blog -- it's important.