Worship as sentencing option

[Pepper]

http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050531/NEWS0104/505310376/1008/NEWS01

Judge lets some defendants attend worship as sentencing option

By Alan Maimon
amaimon@courier-journal.com
The Courier-Journal

LONDON, Ky. -- When Scott Ray Hays pleaded guilty to a drug charge two weeks ago, Laurel District Judge Michael Caperton gave him three choices:

Go to jail for 10 days.

Go to rehab.

Or go to church or another house of worship for 10 services.

Hays chose church.

"I stopped going to church a long time ago, but I think going back might help me get my life straightened out," said Hays, 40, who pleaded guilty to possession of prescription methadone in an improper container.

Legal experts said alternative sentencing is popular across the country -- ordering vandals to repaint a graffiti-covered wall, for example. But they said they didn't know of any other judges who give the option of attending worship.

"This is the first time I've heard of anything like that," said Bill Dressel, a former Colorado judge and president of the National Judicial College in Reno, Nev. "Alternative sentencing usually requires that people give something back to society through public service."

Caperton, 50, a devout Christian, said he thinks church attendance could help some of those convicted find spiritual guidance.

"The goal is to help people and their families," the judge said.

"I don't think there's a church-state issue, because it's not mandatory and I say worship services instead of church."

Any denomination is acceptable, he said.

But some civil libertarians and constitutional scholars say Caperton's unusual method brings religion into the courtroom, and thus violates the Constitution's separation of church and state.

David Friedman, a Louisville lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky, said the option raises "serious constitutional problems."

"The judge is saying that those willing to go to worship services can avoid jail in the same way that those who decline to go cannot," Friedman said. "That strays from government neutrality towards religion."

William Fortune, a University of Kentucky law professor and counsel to the Ethics Committee of the Kentucky Judiciary, said he has never heard of the type of sentence used by Caperton.

He said the judge's option "deliberately mixes religion into the criminal justice system."

Option is limited

Caperton, a district judge since 1994, has offered the option about 50 times to repeat drug and alcohol offenders in Laurel and Knox counties since earlier this spring.

He has limited it to defendants with misdemeanor public intoxication or drug-possession charges.

It's unclear what effect, if any, attendance at worship services has had on defendants, or how many chose that option, because the first group given the option won't be back in Caperton's court until next month.

"I saw that our drug problems were getting worse and worse and decided we needed to try something new," Caperton said. "All the feedback I've gotten on it has been very positive."

Larry Huffman, a public defender in Laurel County and a former student of Fortune at UK, believes Caperton has a good idea given the cost and wait for rehabilitation programs, and crowding at local jails.

"I think it's an effective alternative for our clientele as long as it's voluntary," Huffman said.

A 30-day treatment program can cost clients up to $2,800, and waiting lists are as long as five weeks, said Crit Johnson, an official with Crossroads, a substance-abuse facility in Laurel County.

Laurel County Jailer Jack Sizemore said his jail, which has a capacity of 260 inmates, has exceeded that for more than a year.

State law does not provide for sentencing someone to worship, said Leigh Anne Hiatt, spokeswoman for the Kentucky Administrative Office of the Courts.

"The role of the AOC, however, is not to provide advice or guidance to judges on how they are to decide cases that come before them," she said.

"It is inappropriate for the AOC and the chief justice … to tell a judge how to rule or 'stop' a judge from ruling in any particular way."

No complaints received

Stephen Wolnitzek, since 1995 the chairman of the state Judicial Conduct Commission, said the panel has never received a complaint about a judge giving church service as a sentencing option.

"Something like this we might refer to our general counsel to do research to see if there's something inappropriate or of concern to the commission," Wolnitzek said, adding that he was unsure whether Caperton's sentencing would be examined.

The six-member commission reprimanded Caperton in 2000 for violating ethics rules by presiding over a criminal case involving a friend rather than disqualifying himself.

Caperton did not contest the commission's finding.

Taking the option

When Hays went to court on May 18, he was one of two defendants who were given the church option.

He said in a jail interview that he would take the church option after he posted bond on another misdemeanor charge to which he pleaded not guilty.

He has to return to court in August to inform Caperton of his progress.

Defendants who choose the church option must get a signed affidavit from a pastor or spiritual leader after attending 10 services, Caperton said.

Hays, a Baptist, said he planned to start looking for a church to attend.

"I don't really have one in mind," Hays said. "But I'll find one."

Not for everybody

Caperton said going to church isn't for everybody.

"There was one girl who told me: 'Judge, I'm a sinner. I can't walk into a church,' " Caperton recalled.

"She ended up going to Alcoholics Anonymous."

The Rev. Timothy J. Perry, pastor at Calvary Baptist Temple near London, said he would welcome Hays or other defendants seeking to bring God into their lives.

"I do believe the Lord's the only one who's truly going to help them get victory over their problem," Perry said.

[Officer]

Granted what I'm doing isn't illegal, bit if there were ever any confusion regarding the matter, I'd happily volounteer to set up a THC-Ministry garden in the homes of any doubters as 'punishment'
_________________
The free exercise and enjoyment of religious profession and
worship, without discrimination or preference, shall forever be allowed
in this state to all humankind - NYS Bill of Rights

[Echo]