The Bohemian, a weekly newspaper covering the Sonoma, Napa and Marin areas north of San Francisco, has an extensive article dealing with the effort of a Santa Rosa LifeRing convenor to convince local government bodies that they must comply with a federal court decision from several years ago that establishes that government must be evenhanded when requiring people to attend sobriety support meetings. In other words, the court ruled that courts and government supported institutions can’t require AA attendance without offering all available alternatives, including LifeRing.
Byron K., the local convenor, has been struggling to gain cooperation from local agencies. As often happens, those agencies are either unfamiliar with alternatives to AA or hostile towards them. As Kerr is quoted in the article, “This argument is not about whether 12 Step is good, bad or ugly,” says Kerr. “It’s about choice; it’s the law.”
The article cites specific examples of the difficulties Kerr has run into, and the responses he’s received from local governnments. It makes fascinating reading. See it HERE
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