Here's where to complain about Amethyst Foundation, Inc.'s abuses

I've put quite a lot of effort into writing this blog. I hope it's been helpful. Judging by your visits, it has. This blog has nearly 12,000 total hits now, with an average of over 30 hits a day.  Obviously, many of you have gone through what I did and are likely as infuriated as I was.

I've also contacted several government officials and legislators, as well as civil rights organizations. I've done all I can: now it's your turn.  Change will not happen unless you make your voice heard. Only by voicing your complaints will Amethyst Foundation, Inc. be held accountable. Your silence will assure that they continue to abuse their power with impunity, and that others will suffer.

These are the people you should send your complaints to:

Governor Margaret Wood Hassan
Office of the Governor
State House
107 North Main Street
Concord, NH 03301
(603)271-2121 (phone)
(603)271-7640 (fax)
Email: governorhassan@nh.gov


Director Joseph P. Harding
State of NH Department of Health and Human Services
Division of Community Based Care Services
Bureau of Drug and Alcohol Services
105 Pleasant Street
Concord, NH 03301
(603)271-6110 (phone)
(603)271-6105 (fax)
Email: jharding@dhhs.state.nh.us


Don't bother sending your complaints to Amethyst or the Department of Safety--they will not care.

If you don't complain, nothing will be done. Amethyst Foundation's abuses will continue. And, believe me, both former Governor Lynch and Director Harding are aware of these abuses. In fact, they've had to step in before to stop them. I contacted them and got my license reinstated within two weeks (Amethyst was trying to permanently revoke it, even after I had successfully completed all of my assigned aftercare.)

I'll maintain this blog with updates. In the meanwhile, good luck to all of you.


Atheos

NH House panel backs bill further punishing DWI arrestees

I recently found this article by Ted Siefer, the Union Leader's State House Bureau correspondent:

CONCORD – Repeat drunk drivers could be required to use an ignition interlock device when their driving privileges are restored under a bill backed unanimously by a House committee.

The House Transportation Committee voted 10-0 Tuesday to endorse Senate Bill 282, which was passed by the Senate in February.

The bill would allow the Commissioner of Safety to request an administrative hearing before returning the driver’s license or driving privileges to anyone who was convicted for drunk driving, aggravated drunk driving, reckless driving that involved alcohol, negligent homicide that resulted from drunken driving, or being a habitual drunk driver.

Under the bill, offenders could be required to use either a standard interlock or “enhanced” device, which takes a photo when users breathe into it, for a period of one to two years.

The bill is one of several being pushed by the Department of Safety this session in an effort to crack down on repeat drunk driving. Last month the Senate passed a House-passed bill, HB 482, which would require anyone who tries to circumvent an interlock device to use the enhanced device and face other penalties.

A full House vote on SB 282 has not yet been scheduled.

 Here's the official version of the proposed bill:

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twelve

AN ACT authorizing the commissioner of safety to require the installation of an ignition interlock device as a condition of restoring driving privileges in certain instances.

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

1 New Section; Department of Safety Authority to Order Ignition Interlock Device Installation. Amend RSA 265-A by inserting after section 36 the following new section:

265-A:36-a Department of Safety Authority to Order Ignition Interlock Device Installation. The commissioner of safety may require an administrative hearing prior to the restoration of the license or driving privilege of a person whose license or driving privilege was revoked or suspended as the result of a conviction of any offense under RSA 265-A:45, RSA 265-A:2, RSA 265-A:3, RSA 265:79-a where alcohol was involved, RSA 262:19, or RSA 630:3, II, and, upon a finding that the safety of the person and of other users of the highways would be enhanced thereby, may order the person, as a condition of restoration of his or her license or driving privilege, to install an ignition interlock device in any vehicle registered to that person or used by that person, for not less than 12 months nor more than 2 years, subject to the same conditions and prohibitions as if the interlock was ordered by a court under the provisions of this subdivision.

2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect January 1, 2013.

(Note that this bill says nothing about "repeat offenders."  The Union Leader is the worst example of "journalism" I've ever encountered.  It's usually rife with factual, spelling, and typographical errors.)

I lost my driving privileges, due to a 1st Offense DUI in NH, for almost a year.  This was mainly due to the holy rollers at Amethyst Foundation punishing me for my "willfulness" (their actual words) in objecting to being forced to go to religious AA meetings.  During this period, I spent thousands on car rides to and from work (and mandated AA meetings). 

Bill 282 now provides additional hoops to jump through once you complete your aftercare:  an administrative hearing.  Administrative hearings, as I have posted before, are dangerous.  Unlike a criminal or civil court proceeding, administrative hearings do not afford the defendant much in the way of procedural protections.  Administrative hearings, in the name of judicial expediency and efficiency, often make quick, cursory, and subjective determinations.  See my previous post entitled:  "16 Red Flag Hearings: 14 Affirmed, 0 Reversed, 2 Remanded "

While restoring driving privileges on the condition that an ignition interlock device sounds reasonable (I would have gladly done this if it meant I could drive to work), it will likely open the door to further administrative requirements such as more aftercare being assigned, extra fees, and extended suspensions of driving privileges.  I see nothing in this bill that would restrain the administrative judges from doing this.

Further, ignition interlock devices (IIDs) are quite expensive.  In California the average cost for an IID is about $2.50 per day. Some companies additionally charge around $75-$100 for installation. You will also need to pay fees approaching $100 each month for the maintenance and calibration of your ignition interlock device.  Additionally, you will need to apply, and pay the fee, for a special IID license.  So, under NH Bill 282, the minimum one year IID could cost you around $1,300.

All this for a 1st Offense DUI, and after you complete your aftercare.  Again, my concern is that once forced into the administrative court hearing, you are relatively helpless to the whims of administrative judges, who, in the past, have not shown much leniency (or fairness, in my opinion).

A fairer version of this bill would allow the use of IIDs during the suspension period. Unless you live in Manchester or Concord, there is no public transportation.  Private rides cost $50-100, each.  Drivers on Craigslist are unreliable and sometimes dangerous.  Many people lose their jobs because they cannot afford this expense.  That's too harsh a penalty.

Not to the people at Amethyst Foundation, though, who will take glee in your suffering.  They are all former drunks who had to go through the same punishment, and will love to make you go through it, too.  Maybe, I'm sure they hope, you'll become a born-again Christian in the process, too.

Forced Worship reaches 7,000 hits

Forced Worship has reached 7,000 hits.  While I am happy that this blog is being found useful, I am disturbed that there remains such a need for it.

Please feel free to look at some of my earlier posts for an understanding of what you need to do to get your driving privileges back.  The licensed alcohol and drug counselors (LADCs) who determine whether or not you deserve this believe the standard AA religious pseudo-science:

• you have a disease called "alcoholism"

• the cure is to admit this and ask for God's help ("hit your knees")

• this cure requires nothing less than the complete abstention from alcohol

This is what places like Amethyst Foundation, Inc., and those that work in the recovery industry, want from you.  We all know how deluded this is.  The crime for what you've been arrested is for driving while impaired, not being impaired.  It is not against the law to consume alcohol.

Go along with this charade and do your best job at acting to make them believe you.  Do not show any sign of "willfulness," intelligence, or independent thought.  AA is a cult, and these AA-trained LADCs want mindless, subservient, stupid followers to recruit. Pretend that you are one of the "pigeons" they want.

Otherwise, they will punish you by assigning perpetual, expensive "aftercare," and, perhaps like me, an attempt to permanently revoke your driving privileges (despite it having been only a 1st Offense DWI).

Be very careful until you get your license back.  Good luck.

Amethyst Foundation, Inc.'s 2010 IRS Form 990 -- More of the $ame

I've previously posted on the outrageous amount of money Amethyst Foundation, Inc., brings in, all tax-free.

Well, their IRS Form 990 for 2010 is now available and shows more of the same:

• a whopping total revenue of $1,165,753.00, of which $1,161,774.00 is entirely program service revenue from the state.

And, apparently, Amethyst Foundation, Inc., operated in the red last year, with expenses of $1,185,201, including:

• $557,353 in wages (!)  Really?
• $76,623 for Director Bob Kelley's salary
• $35,476 for office supplies (!!)  I saw one old HP inkjet printer when I was there.
•  $109,868 for "all other expenses." 

And if you buy that, I have some swampland in Florida I'd like to sell you.

My Post to the Ripoff Report on Amethyst Foundation, Inc.

I'm not sure why I waited this long, but I finally got around to posting my experience with Amethyst  Foundation, Inc., on the RipOff Report website:

Several years ago, the state of NH privatized its impaired driver intervention programs, or IDIPs.  They are now all run by private organizations, of which Amethyst Foundation, Inc (aka "Amethyst House") is the largest.  Supposedly a "non-profit," Amethyst Foundation, Inc., nets well over a million dollars a year, all of which is tax-free.  They list one employee, Bob Kelley, on their IRS statements.  NH law mandates that you go to the closest organization, which for most people in the state means going to Amethyst Foundation.  They have a virtual monopoly.  Additionally, to ensure that the "customers" continue to roll in, Amethyst Foundation employs several experienced, influential lobbyists that apply pressure on NH State Representatives to maintain strict penalties for DUIs.  Bob Kelley has a sweet scam going, and it's all legal.

I admittedly made a huge blunder resulting in a 1st Offense DUI.  Though I had already paid large court and administrative fines, I was resigned to doing the IDIP program which met once a week for four weeks.  I was not prepared for what I would encounter there.

Most of the people that work at Amethyst Foundation, almost without exception, seemed bitter with the hand that life had dealt them, had a hateful, puritanical streak, treated clients like garbage, and were all too happy to exact punishment for the slightest infraction.  I suspect that most were former heavy alcoholics who had gone through the highly religious Alcoholics Anonymous program to stop drinking (they "hit their knees" in AA-speak, found god, and got dry).  I suspect that their cognitive abilities were affected by their past alcoholism, rendering them absolutely incompetent at their jobs.  I was pressured from day one, and throughout the IDIP program, to attend AA and get a sponsor. 

I told them that AA has been ruled by both Federal and State Courts to be a religious organization for purposes of the Establishment Clause of the 1st Amendment.  Despite this, and the fact that this was my first DUI, they assigned six months of twice weekly mandatory attendance at AA meetings.  At each meeting, I was pressured to pray, listen to these people's ignorant, holier-than-thou, pseudoscience rantings based on the Big Book written by Bill W. (really, the radical puritan/evangelical Oxford group--google it).  At the end of every meeting, members hold hands and recite the Lord's Prayer.  Nonbelievers are treated with contempt, scorn, and pity--this was perhaps the most egregious of the insults.

I complained in writing, sent certified/return receipt requested, to Amethyst Foundation, Inc. throughout this procedure.  Most of my letters were ignored.  The responses I got dripped with contempt.  Mr. Kelley went so far as to even attempt to mislead me over the phone into exhausting my one administrative hearing so that I wouldn't have another one for a year.

In addition to attending AA meetings, I also had to see a Licensed Drug and Alcohol Counselor, or LDAC, weekly, for four to six months.  This person was also a hard-core AA true believer.  These meetings consisted of him, not trying to help me with any supposed alcohol problems, but with trying to convince of god's existence and how wonderful AA is.  I had to pay him for this privilege.

The LDAC told me that Amethyst Foundation, Inc., punishes people who complain by taking their licenses away permanently or effectively doing so by ordering extensive aftercare.  When I completed my initial aftercare of AA and LDAC meetings, I received a notice from the Department of Safety of an Administrative Hearing requested by Amethyst Foundation to permanently revoke my license.  This occured despite the fact the I attended, with verification, all required AA meetings, and obtained a positive evaluation by my LDAC.

Luckily, I had written to the Governor several weeks prior, whose staff then contacted the Head of the NH Dept of Health and Human Services.  I updated the Governor's staff on what Amethyst Foundation had done.  The NH Dept of HHS then reprimanded Mr. Kelley, including sending him a written notice that mandating AA attendance was illegal.  I got my license back within a week.

Supposedly, Amethyst Foundation has been ordered to stop all aftercare self help group attendance.  I doubt that they will do this.  The staff there are on a religious mission to save people by getting them to go to AA.  They are really religious prohibitionists that want to eliminate all alcohol use, not just merely prevent future DUIs.  History has shown that you cannot stop religious zealots.

Surprisingly, I'm really not angry at what happened.  I'm more saddened and disappointed that in this day and age such backward religious zealots can still do such harm.  I thought that we, as a country that so highly values individual rights and freedoms, had moved beyond that long ago.  Ironically, this occurred in NH, the "live free or die" state.  How hypocritical and ignorant some NH residents are.

Forced Worship Reaches 5,000 Hits

Visits to this website have reached over 5,000!

Lots of people are, apparently, still being assigned attendance at AA meetings as part of "aftercare" by Amethyst Foundation, Inc.  If this has happened to you, please note that:

Several Federal District Courts and State Courts, including the U.S. District Court for the District of New Hampshire, have ruled AA to be a "religious organization" for purposes of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.  Coerced attendance at AA as part of your aftercare is illegal.

Amethyst Foundation, Inc., will often try to direct you to attend a "self-help" group as part of your aftercare, knowing full well that the only self-help groups available in the state of New Hampshire are AA.  They will then respond to your complaints by stating that "you are not being required to attend AA and are free to attend any self-help group you can find."

Should this happen, immediately inform Amethyst Foundation, Inc., the Governor of New Hampshire, and the Director of the State of New Hampshire Dept of Health and Human Services in writing, by certified mail/return receipt requested.  This should solve your problem.

In the unlikely event that this does not provide relief, file, pro se,  for a preliminary injunction in the United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire.

There is no reason to attend AA or any type of self-group as part of your "aftercare."  Yes, it was wrong to drive with a BAC over the legal limit.  But that does not justify your being punished by the religious zealots of Amethyst Foundation, Inc., REAP, Serenity House, and others of the "recovery industry" with forced participation at cult-like, religious AA meetings.

Newt Gingrich, Big Book Thumper

In this Youtube video from a 2011 Republican Candidate Debate, Newt Gingrich states,

"there was a part of me that was truly 'hollow' ...and finally, a banker, who was a friend of mine from Georgia, gave me 'the two books that make up Alcoholics Anonymous'"  

The two books Gingrich is referring to are "The Big Book," and "The Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions."

Gingrich went on to say:

"Now...I wasn't drinking, but I had precisely the symptoms of someone who was collapsing under this weight" [referring to his hollow feelings].

Reading the Big Book and trying to understand where I had failed and why I was empty and why I had to turn to God.  I think if I had not had that experience, that intervention, that I would have collapsed totally.  And that was really the beginning of turning my life around...I've been blessed."

I don't know what is more frightening:  The idea of this idiot being President, or the thought of people being so ignorant as to actually vote for him.