Should a Judge Be Allowed to Mandate Church as a Term of Probation?
Or is that a clear violation of the separation of church and state?
Earlier this year, a judge sentenced an Oklahoma teen to 10 years probation, the terms of which included regular church attendance, for a manslaughter charge. Tyler Alred, now 17, had been drinking when he crashed a pickup truck on Dec. 3, 2011, according to Tulsa World reports. The accident killed a 16-year-old passenger who was reportedly a friend of Alred. Although not legally drunk, it is reported that because Alred was below the legal drinking age he was still considered to be under the influence of alcohol. He was sentenced after pleading guilty, and the terms of probation included the church mandate. Alred, a regular church-goer anyway, reportedly does not object to the probation requirement involving church attendance. However, …
