Court ordering is not a new thing. In the early 1940's many courts ordered repeat offenders from the "work house" to attend AA meetings. The reasons these folks were in the work house was due to alcohol related offenses.
As to being court ordered today, there have been many court cases finding for the litigant and saying that ordering people to AA violates the First Amendment's Establishment Clause. R. Warner v The Orange County (NY) Department of Probation was one of these cases. It (and in other cases) was ruled that AA was religious in nature and as Mr. Warner did not want to attend any religious based programs he couldn't be forced to. Alternative type programs and/or therapies if available should be offered.
Warner versus Orange
Another litigation (DeStefano v Emergency Housing Group et al) again brought up the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. This litigation again found that AA was a religious activity and resulted in an edict from the NYS Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services (OASAS) barring any coerced or forced attendance at AA meetings at any NYS licensed facility. The link to the OASAS Bulletin is
OASAS Local Services Bulletin No. 2002-05
I believe that AA membership should be voluntary as our Traditions state AA should be open to all who SEEK to recover. The Traditions also state that the ONLY requirement for AA membership is a DESIRE to stop drinking. Those who are mandated often are not seeking recovery nor do they have a desire to stop. Regardless of any positive outcomes, Traditions are being violated.
The caveat here is that in most areas there are no alternatives to AA and this is not AA's fault or responsibility to provide alternatives. Therefore, people who do not want to be forced into AA meetings when sentenced to and there are no alternatives should, serve their time in a correctional facility. Folks should have a choice. It is the responsibility of those providing alternatives to 12 Step to make those alternatives available to the same extent as AA is available. It is not the responsibility of the States, Counties, Cities or Towns and certainly not the responsibility of AA.