The less reasonable a cult is,
the more men seek to establish it by force.
— Jean Jacques Rousseau
There is a town in Massachusetts which is often showing up in Internet
searches of newspapers for people sentenced to A.A. meetings.
It is rather curious, to say the least.
Some judges there seem to regard A.A. as a real cure-all,
quite stubbornly ignoring the simple fact that
A.A. has been declared a
religious organization by many higher courts. It's unconstitutional
to sentence people to A.A., but those judges do it anyway.
Where neighboring Salem, Massachusetts once thought that everything bad
was caused by witches,
and could be fixed by hanging a bunch of women, now Westboro, Massachusetts has
some judges who seem to imagine that A.A. meetings will cure everything from
drunk driving to brutality, violence, intimidation, and child
pornography.
Do the judges imagine that just getting those nasty criminals praying will
somehow reform them?
Is this Faith-Based Punishment, Phase One?
(Are the judges themselves hidden A.A. members and 12-step true believers?)
Recent Westboro area cases where people were sentenced to Alcoholics Anonymous
include:
(Exact names and addresses have been excised to protect the guilty.)
Telegram & Gazette. Worcester, Mass.: Jul 30, 2003. pg. B.4
WESTBORO DISTRICT COURT: Judge Robert Calagione:
Patrick R. B., 30, of Valade Court, Southboro, charged with failing
to drive within marked lanes, found responsible, filed; driving
negligently so as to endanger, dismissed; possession of marijuana,
continued without a finding for six months; driving under the influence
of alcohol, second offense, sentenced to four months in the House of
Correction, sentence suspended for two years with probation, and
ordered to complete a 14-day inpatient program, attend five
Alcoholics Anonymous meetings per week, remain drug- and alcohol-free,
submit to random urinalysis, and pay $300 in fees.
Five meetings per week is nearly one every day.
Telegram & Gazette. Worcester, Mass.: Aug 24, 2003. pg. B.4
Westboro District Court:
GRAFTON — Two teenagers charged with an armed robbery at a Worcester Street ice-cream stand pleaded not guilty in Westboro
District Court Friday.
Scott J. B., 18, of Greaney Drive, and Paul J. L., 18, of Trinity Ave.,
were charged with armed robbery while
masked, assault with a dangerous weapon (a pellet gun), larceny over $250,
and assault and battery.
They are charged with the July 27 armed robbery of Swirls and Scoops
Ice Cream Store. Both men allegedly entered the store while
masked, attacked the female owner as she was leaving the store and stole
approximately $2,000 in cash, according to a statement
released by Mr. Conte's office.
Mr. B. is serving probation for a charge of driving under the influence
of alcohol. The case was closed July 8; and the charge
was continued without finding for one year. He was ordered to enroll
in an alcohol-awareness program as soon as possible and attend
Alcoholics Anonymous meetings until the awareness program begins.
Let's see now... Just when was it established that A.A. cult religion
meetings keep kids from robbing ice cream stores?
Oops! I'm getting confused. Mr. Scott B. wasn't sentenced to A.A. for robbing the
ice cream store; it was for an earlier crime — drunk driving. He was already sentenced
to A.A. and attending those "spiritual" A.A. meetings when he decided to go
rob the ice cream store... Ah, those spiritual A.A. meetings sure do work good, don't they?
Telegram & Gazette. Worcester, Mass.: Jan 8, 2004. pg. B.1
Westboro District Court:
A 62-year-old Randolph man who was charged with sending child pornography
by e-mail to a Shrewsbury woman pleaded guilty to possession of child
pornography yesterday. He was placed on probation and will be required
to move out of his home while a minor lives there.
He was also ordered to attend two Alcoholics Anonymous meetings per week
while on probation, use no drugs or
alcohol, and submit to drug and alcohol evaluations as necessary.
According to court records, the Shrewsbury woman was in a chat room
called "I Like Older Men" in February when she met a man who
steered the correspondence to sexual acts with young girls.
While she was exchanging the e-mails, the woman called the Shrewsbury police.
According to court records, the man gave the woman a wrong name, but
also gave his cell phone and work phone numbers, which police traced
to Mr. P.
The woman had said she received seven e-mails containing images of
children performing sexual acts.
Telegram & Gazette. Worcester, Mass.: Jan 21, 2004. pg. B.3
Westboro District Court:
MARLBORO — A Marlboro District Court officer who was arrested for exposing himself
has been fired.
Craig R., 33, of Neptune Drive, Shrewsbury, was arrested July 22 at TGI
Friday's at Solomon Pond Mall after customers said he exposed his genitals as he
returned from the bathroom.
An administrative hearing was held Dec. 23 on whether Mr. R. could return
to his job. Yesterday, Bruce E. Brock, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Trial
Court, said Mr. R. was terminated Dec. 30.
Last month, an indecent exposure charge was continued without a guilty
finding to June 6, 2005. Mr. R. was ordered to stay away from the
restaurant, not to
drink any alcohol and to continue with Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.
He was ordered to submit to random screens and to pay a $50 victim-witness
fee. He also
was ordered to pay $300 in court costs on a disturbing-the-peace charge,
which also was continued without a guilty finding.
Well this is good. Doesn't A.A. teach that you are supposed to expose
all of your shortcomings to the group? "You're only as sick as your secrets."
Telegram & Gazette. Worcester, Mass.: Feb 12, 2004. pg. B.7
WESTBORO DISTRICT COURT: Judge Paul S. Waickowski:
Robert M. P., 42, of Boylston Circle, Shrewsbury, charged with driving
under the influence of alcohol, found guilty, ordered to pay fines and fees totaling
$600, placed on probation for two years, ordered to attend a treatment
program and any after-care, must abstain from alcohol use and submit to random
Breathalyzer tests, ordered to lose license for one year and to attend
three Alcoholics Anonymous meetings per week; driving without license
in possession and
failing to wear a seat belt, found responsible, charges were filed.
And three A.A. meetings per week for two years should be enough to get
him believing in Higher Power, don't you think?
Telegram & Gazette. Worcester, Mass.: Feb 27, 2004. pg. B.1
Westboro District Court:
WESTBORO — A Marlboro High School teacher yesterday admitted sufficient
facts for a guilty finding on charges of drunken driving and leaving
the scene of an
accident involving property damage and was sentenced to probation for
a year.
Dennis F. L., 54, of Rawson Hill Drive, Shrewsbury, agreed to the
plea deal in Westboro District Court. Both charges were continued without
a finding.
Mr. L. was placed on probation for a year and ordered to enroll in an
alcohol treatment program. He was ordered to attend one
Alcoholics Anonymous meeting per week for a month. He was fined $600
and ordered to pay an additional $65 per month fee while on probation.
Mr. L.'s driver's license was suspended for 45 days.
And four A.A. meetings — one per week for a month — will fix what?
Or is this just Intro to Cult Religion 101?
Telegram & Gazette. Worcester, Mass.: Mar 2, 2004. pg. B.1
LEOMINSTER: Judge Austin T. Philbin:
LEOMINSTER — Two teenagers were held on $3,000 cash bail each yesterday
after a brawl that left one man unconscious in a puddle of blood with
his assailant's shoeprint on his forehead.
The two admitted to striking the bar patrons early Saturday after they
were confronted while smashing mailboxes on Litchfield Street.
Troy R. Hebert, 39, was found facedown in a pool of blood the size of a
car tire, his eyes swollen shut from being stomped on the head.
Mr. Hebert's mother photographed "an obvious shoeprint" on
her son's forehead at the hospital.
Officer Matthew C. Swaine went to the hospital to see Troy Hebert.
"While speaking with Troy, knowing him for over 20 years, I had a
hard time finding any recognizable feature of Troy Hebert that I can
remember," Officer Swaine said.
Judge Austin T. Philbin cited the two defendants' juvenile records in
setting bail yesterday. He also ordered both teenagers to attend daily
Alcoholics Anonymous meetings if they post bail, and to attend those
meetings until the case is resolved, court records show.
These guys get a long series of back-to-back 90 Meetings In 90 Days;
one meeting every day indefinitely.
So when were A.A. meetings shown to be effective treatment for
keeping young thugs from stomping people?
Telegram & Gazette. Worcester, Mass.: Mar 5, 2004. pg. B.5
WESTBORO DISTRICT COURT: Judge Paul S. Waickowski:
Richard A. L., 48, of Williams St., Grafton, charged with domestic
assault and battery, continued without a finding for six months with probation,
ordered to attend 60 Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, ordered to remain
drug- and alcohol-free, ordered to submit to random drug tests and to pay a $65 per
month probation fee.
What study or controlled experiment showed that A.A. meetings were
effective for getting guys to stop beating up their wives?
Telegram & Gazette. Worcester, Mass.: Mar 11, 2004. pg. B.1
Western Worcester District Court:
EAST BROOKFIELD — A man once questioned by police in the 1993 disappearance
and homicide of 10-year-old Holly Piirainen admitted to sufficient facts for a
guilty finding yesterday in Western Worcester District Court on charges
unrelated to that case.
On a charge of driving while under the influence of alcohol, Mr. A. was
sentenced to one year in the House of Correction and was ordered to serve 90 days
with the remaining sentence suspended until Sept. 8, 2005. He will be
credited 73 days for time served, and has 17 days left in the House of
Correction, according to court records.
Other conditions of his probation require he attend five AA meetings per
week, abstain from alcohol use and undergo random screenings for drugs
and alcohol.
Just another DUI. But this guy gets five meetings per week. That's almost
90 in 90. Is that because they suspect him of being a murdering
sexual predator whom they can't convict? And how will A.A. meetings fix that?
Telegram & Gazette. Worcester, Mass.: Mar 11, 2004. pg. B.8
Western Worcester District Court:
EAST BROOKFIELD — A former Paxton police officer admitted to sufficient
facts for a guilty finding yesterday in Western Worcester District Court
on a charge of threatening to commit a crime.
Patrick O'D., 32, of Tanglewood Road, Paxton, was arrested in
November for threatening a neighbor. Mr. O'D. was a Paxton police
officer when he called a neighbor "and threatened to rape and
assault her 12-year-old daughter," according to court records.
Yesterday, Mr. O'D. was sentenced to two years of supervised
probation and he was ordered to stay away from and have no contact with
the victim or her family, pay a $100 fine and a $50 victim/witness fee.
Also, he was ordered to undergo a psychiatric and mental evaluation,
attend two Alcoholics Anonymous meetings per week, take all prescribed
medications, and have frequent, random and unannounced drug and alcohol
screenings.
So what survey, poll, study, or controlled experiment showed that Alcoholics
Anonymous meetings were effective for keeping bad cops from raping 12-year-old
girls?
There seem to be some judges around Worcester, Massachusetts who really
do believe that Alcoholics Anonymous is
genuine snake oil — a magic elixir
that can cure absolutely anything.
There also seem to be some judges who don't give a damn about what is
actually legal or Constitutional.
And another thought that is really disturbing is:
If you go to an A.A. meeting for help with a drinking problem, the guy sitting next to you might
be one of those bad cops or vicious thugs or unconvicted murdering sexual predators
who was sentenced to A.A. meetings by a judge.
Heck, you might even get one of those creeps for your sponsor.
(Are you really sure that you want to go over to his house for a little
one-on-one Big Book study?)
If A.A. really had any brains at all, they would immediately put a stop
to courts sentencing people to A.A., if only for the protection of the
sincere A.A. members,
and for the protection of the A.A. organization as a whole.
But A.A. doesn't have any brains...
The A.A. leadership can't see the stream of court-sentenced criminals as anything
but a bunch of potential new members, and they are all for it.
They encourage it.
The official A.A. publication "The A.A. Grapevine"
continues to promote the idea of coerced A.A. attendance:
At the time of my accident, the deans were assessing how to respond to student
alcohol abuse and were waiting to try out their latest idea, Alcoholics Anonymous.
I was the test case. They told me in no uncertain terms that I would never get
back into this college unless I went to AA. "Window of Opportunity", AA Grapevine, December 2001, page 39.
The author actually wrote that this was a happy story, a jolly good thing,
that the college administration had done him a
big favor by forcing him into Alcoholics Anonymous.
And, by implication, other universities should also do the same thing to their students.
Never mind the fact that the administration broke the law of the land
and violated that guy's civil rights by forcing him to attend the meetings of a cult religion.
(Not a smart thing for a university administration to do; it can lead to very expensive
lawsuits.)
And never mind the fact that as a treatment program for alcoholism,
Alcoholics Anonymous is a total failure.
The AA Grapevine thinks that coerced A.A. attendance is wonderful.
In fact,
the centerfold of the November 2002 issue of the AA Grapevine
showed that the vast majority of the A.A. members — 61% — had been "introduced" to
A.A. by pressure or coercion from the health care system or criminal justice system.
If the A.A. leadership were to put a stop to the coercive recruiting,
their membership would really shrink.
So they don't put a stop to it.
But this really has to be the best yet:
Woman who pleaded insanity set free.
Saturday, 09-Apr-2005 10:50PM
Story from United Press International
ALAMOSA, Colo., April 9 (UPI) — A woman found not guilty by reason of
insanity of killing her boyfriend and mutilating his body has been set
free in Alamosa, Colo.
Jane Lynn Woodry was deemed ready for a supervised return to society by
a judge after a two-hour hearing, the Rocky Mountain News reported Saturday.
Woodry was found not guilty by reason of insanity in the 1993 first-degree
murder of Peter Michael Greene. She shot him four times with a .25-caliber
revolver, dismembered his body, wrapped his torso in a blanket, and
stored it in a closet in his home.
She took his legs back to her apartment, where she cut hunks of flesh
from his legs. Investigators found bite-sized chunks of human flesh
prepared in a stew on the stove at Woodry's home.
Conditions for her release also include holding a job, attending
Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, writing daily diary cards and a journal
for review by a social worker, and meeting with her case manager three
times a week.
"I want people to know that the community is safe," Woodry
said. "I am not a danger to the community."
