Atheists anonymous
                    The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, siding with a lower  federal judge, ruled that a county probation department cannot force an atheist to attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings as part of his probation following an impaired-driving conviction.
                    Robert Warner had sued the Orange County (N.Y.) Department of Probation, saying that its order meant he would have to participate in AA's "religious" exercises in violation of his First Amendment rights.
                    U.S. District Court Judge Gerard Goettel agreed that Mr. Warner cannot be forced to attend, but he also awarded him  a token $1 settlement. This month an appeals court agreed, saying the tiny damage award was "just about right." 
                    Orange County wants to fight back and take the case to the Supreme Court. Attorney Richard Golden, representing the community just north of New York City, claims the spiritual aspect to AA meetings does not rise to the level of an establishment of a religion.

Reprinted with permission from WORLD Magazine, ©1999

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