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need2recover · 04-12-2008, 09:39 AM

Hi,

I was in my home group a couple weeks ago, voting on some questions for the CAR. One of the questions was about the WSC giving northern New Jersey some amount of money, over $30,000. Other home group members mentioned that NJ had been sued.

I went and did some quick research and found that a Steven C. Thompson had sued:

EVA'S VILLAGE AND SHELTERING PROGRAM, ET ALS; DERRICK
WILLIAMS, INDIVIDUALLY; GREGORY ANDERSON, INDIVIDUALLY;
GLORY PEREZ, INDIVIDUALLY; ANTHONY MCCANTS, INDIVIDUALLY;
BRYANT JENKINS, INDIVIDUALLY; GREATER PATERSON AREA, INC.,
ET ALS; WORLD SERVICE ORGANIZATION, INC., ET ALS

The court documents indicate:

Steven C. Thompson sued Narcotics Anonymous World Services, Inc., Eva’s Village and Sheltering Program, and the Greater Paterson Area in New Jersey, among others, claiming that Defendants violated his constitutional rights and unlawfully discriminated against him when they prohibited him from conducting a prayer at Narcotics Anonymous meetings at Eva’s Village in Paterson, New Jersey.

I was told that Steven was asked to close a meeting and the prayer he said was considered unacceptable so he was asked to stop saying it.

The Defendants allegedly denied Plaintiff the right to conduct prayer at Narcotics Anonymous (“NA”) meetings and repeatedly instructed him not to return to future NA meetings held at Defendant Eva’s Village and Sheltering Program (“Eva’s Village”) because of his disruptive behavior. On February 12, 2003, Plaintiff was removed from Eva’s Village by an officer from the Paterson Police Department. He was told that if he returned, he would be arrested and charged with trespassing. A sign was placed on display at Eva’s Village instructing members to call the police should Plaintiff return to the premises. Plaintiff alleges he was denied public access to NA meetings, was discriminated against based on his religion, and suffered religious persecution.

Steven appealed the decisions multiple times. This must have run up some large legal fees for NA World Service, Inc. as well as NA Greater Patterson Area, New Jersey, Inc. I guess the WSC just paid from their reserves but NJ didn't have the cash. Does anyone know more about those details?

Would giving NJ money from WSC set any sort of dangerous precedent?

Thanks

04-12-2008, 09:39 AM	#1 (permalink)
need2recover Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Washington, DC Posts: 8	Should WSC cover NJ Legal costs? Hi, I was in my home group a couple weeks ago, voting on some questions for the CAR. One of the questions was about the WSC giving northern New Jersey some amount of money, over $30,000. Other home group members mentioned that NJ had been sued. I went and did some quick research and found that a Steven C. Thompson had sued: EVA'S VILLAGE AND SHELTERING PROGRAM, ET ALS; DERRICK WILLIAMS, INDIVIDUALLY; GREGORY ANDERSON, INDIVIDUALLY; GLORY PEREZ, INDIVIDUALLY; ANTHONY MCCANTS, INDIVIDUALLY; BRYANT JENKINS, INDIVIDUALLY; GREATER PATERSON AREA, INC., ET ALS; WORLD SERVICE ORGANIZATION, INC., ET ALS The court documents indicate: Steven C. Thompson sued Narcotics Anonymous World Services, Inc., Eva’s Village and Sheltering Program, and the Greater Paterson Area in New Jersey, among others, claiming that Defendants violated his constitutional rights and unlawfully discriminated against him when they prohibited him from conducting a prayer at Narcotics Anonymous meetings at Eva’s Village in Paterson, New Jersey. I was told that Steven was asked to close a meeting and the prayer he said was considered unacceptable so he was asked to stop saying it. The Defendants allegedly denied Plaintiff the right to conduct prayer at Narcotics Anonymous (“NA”) meetings and repeatedly instructed him not to return to future NA meetings held at Defendant Eva’s Village and Sheltering Program (“Eva’s Village”) because of his disruptive behavior. On February 12, 2003, Plaintiff was removed from Eva’s Village by an officer from the Paterson Police Department. He was told that if he returned, he would be arrested and charged with trespassing. A sign was placed on display at Eva’s Village instructing members to call the police should Plaintiff return to the premises. Plaintiff alleges he was denied public access to NA meetings, was discriminated against based on his religion, and suffered religious persecution. Steven appealed the decisions multiple times. This must have run up some large legal fees for NA World Service, Inc. as well as NA Greater Patterson Area, New Jersey, Inc. I guess the WSC just paid from their reserves but NJ didn't have the cash. Does anyone know more about those details? Would giving NJ money from WSC set any sort of dangerous precedent? Thanks