My son got a probation violation for not providing his NA/AA meeting paper and for not having a sponsor. This was considered a technical violation.At his hearing he turned in his meeting paper but was told since he did not have a sponsor he violated probation. On his Conditiions Of Supervision paper it just says he is to provide proof of NA/AA attendance. Is not having a sponsor really a violation of his probation?

If he is required to participate in NA and AA, part of that commitment is to have a sponsor through the program, so yes, I would say so.

Yes, please understand that he has to do everything that his PO and the court says. If he does not, they do not play, so he can just as easy be serving the rest of his time in jail.

So if they say sponsor, he needs sponsor. Had he been turning in the NA/AA paper work showing he had been going to the meeting, they may or may not have had a issue, or as big of issue, but they look at many things, attitude is one, not turning in the paper work shows a attitude as not caring or respect to the PO.

So he needs to get with it, and do what he is suppose to do. He can either work with it, or end up going to jail

He will make it sound all like it is their fault and they are unfair, but to be honest he is being told what to do, he can either do it, or go to jail. This sounds hard, but this is basically the POs opinoin,

Just attending the meetings means that you were physically there. Having a sponsor means that you are interested in solving your problem. This showed the court that he was just physically there and didn't care about solving his problem. He did technically violate his probation not providing all the necessary items he was required to provide to the court. You are just trying to be picky about his not having a sponsor. Obviously he didn't want a sponsor as they would have helped him with his problem.

I'm not trying to be picky. The Conditions of Supervision paper that he signed for his PO just states that he was to attend NA/AA meetings. Someone with some legal experience suggested that as it was not specifically spelled out that he was to obtain a sponsor it might not be a probation violation. The judge has sentenced him to serve the remaining 21months of his original sentence.

Sorry but yes, the idea of attending AA is to follow all of what they want you to do, The actually idea is to get cured from the addition. This was what the PO was wanting to see, It most likely would have never even caught his attention had the paper work showing he went to the meetings were turned in properly, but when they start looking they can get picky.

And the funny thing about Probation, is that it does not matter what you think, does not even matter what the PO things, it is only what the judge things that matters.

I hope he had an attorney at the hearing, and did not try and merely show the judge they were being picky. The worst thing a person on probation can do in front of the judge is try and justify actions.
The judge wants to hear how sorry they are for their actions, how hard they are working to correct it, and so on.

To be sentenced to his complete sentence the judge must have been convinced he was not even trying to kick his habit.

Thanks for all your responses. I also feel that having a sponsor is part of the AA/NA experience and agree he should have made a better effort considering he was looking at serving out a 21 month sentence. He also has mental health problems and I hope he will get some type of treatment while he is in prison.