3 NYPD Officers Fail To Plead That AA Infringed Rights; One Pleads Enough

In four separate cases decided on March 30 by the federal district court for the Eastern District of New York, the court considered claims by New York City police officers that the Establishment Clause was violated when they were forced into participating in Alcoholics Anonymous. In three of the cases, the court held that plaintiffs had failed to adequately plead that their First Amendment rights were infringed. They alleged only that the program was "religious based," but did not indicate whether they were forced to pray or acknowledge God, or whether there were any references to God at all in the program. The cases are Bueno v. City of New York, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 24766 ; MacShane v. City of New York, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 25014; and Miller v. City of New York, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 25016. However, in a fourth similar case decided the same day, the court held plaintiff's allegations that his rehabilitation program made "references to God" to be sufficient to state a claim for a violation of his freedom of religion because a reference to any god is a preference of "religion to irreligion." McNamara v. City of New York, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 25015. [Revised.]