Will I Have to Go to AA Meetings After Getting My 1st Dui Charge?
Question by love_66: Will I have to go to AA meetings after getting my 1st dui charge?
I live in Florida. I got a dui a few nights ago. I was just wondering in most cases if AA meetings are usually appointed by the judge? This charge was also followed by a hit and run charge. I think AA would be a good idea for me. Is there any way I can even request going to AA?
Best answer:
Answer by Angela
You’ll go either way. at least that’s how it is in Oregon
What do you think? Answer below!
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Ask your lawyer to talk it over with the State’s Attorney.
You don’t need a judge’s order to go to AA. Anybody can go. If you think that’s going to be in lieu of punishment, I doubt it. Hit and run is a serious charge.
if u go to 1 meeting b4 ur court apperance then it will show u r looking for help but u must keep going but only if u really want the help cause if not then their is no point also try going for a advance driving course that way it showes u r trying to right ur wrongs and change the things that got u their in the first place
You should just start going to AA, that will look good to the judge. You are taking responsibility for your problem. You may get the minimum if you do. Have the AA guy heading the meeting to give you a note saying you were there. Go every day if possible. give the note to the judge when you
go in.
I’m confused.
First, you ask if you “will have to go,” later you say you “think AA would be a good idea for you,” then you want “to request” to go.
So, let me tell you that ALL of the 12-Step Recovery Fellowships are open to all who “have a desire” to recover.
Open meetings in the fellowships are also open to family and friends of the person with the problem.
The AA website is http://www.AA.org
It is as simple as finding a meeting you can get to and SHOWING UP. There is no “registration”
It is a really good idea to get there 5 or 10 minutes before the meeting starts. That will give you the chance to ask questions, get directed to a beginner meeting, and more.
Meetings have different formats. Some read AA literature: the “BIG BOOK,” Alcoholics Anonymous is read at at lot of meetings.
(If you want a copy, meetings sell them, at or close to cost -which depending on shipping costs and paperback or hardcover- can be about $ 10.)
Some meetings are speaker meetings: a recovering member with substantial sobriety, shares on how they were before, what happened, and where recovery has led them.
A sponsor is a sober person recovering one day at a time and willing to share that journey with another member.
To try to be in recovery by yourself is like jumping out of a plane without a parachute. Do you want a soft or a hard landing?.
If you mean what you say about thinking AA would be good for you, ask someone to help you get a sponsor before you leave that first meeting. Sponsors can also help answer all the questions you will have.
There are meetings in most areas 7 days a week, at all kinds of hours.
AA.org
Do it
NOW is a REALLY GOOD TIME
{ps, In case I was too subtle :) I am a big fan of 12-Step Recovery. It helps alcoholics live sane lives and deal with the wreckage they have in their pasts!! }
AA meetings are open to everyone who wants to attend. You don’t have to be court ordered to them. The judge will probably sentence you to attend in your case because of the hit and run. Actually that should be your main concern this is what could get you jail time. Good Luck.
c) For a felony of the second degree, by a term of imprisonment not exceeding 15 years.
(d) For a felony of the third degree, by a term of imprisonment not exceeding 5 years.
(4) A person who has been convicted of a designated misdemeanor may be sentenced as follows:
(a) For a misdemeanor of the first degree, by a definite term of imprisonment not exceeding 1 year;
(b) For a misdemeanor of the second degree, by a definite term of imprisonment not exceeding 60 days.
Lately in Florida, it’s the DMV that mandates AA in order to retain or regain your license and their mandates are usually longer than the courts.
Right now you sound enamored of AA, that is likely to change. About 95% of all new members drop out in their first year of AA; for you, it may not be an option. AA has about a 5% success rate, the same as quitting on your own, but those who fail in AA tend to fall harder and AA has the highest mortality rate of any recognized alcohol modality.
According to AA’s magazine The Grapevine (Nov 2002) over 60% of all new members arrive under some sort of mandate, many of them not as ‘nice’ as a DUI, be very, very careful, you never know who you’re sitting next to:
http://stinkin-thinkin.com/category/keep-coming-back/
And as a female you should know about “13th stepping” in AA. People with time in the program often attempt to cozy up to newcomers to take advantage of them sexually or financially. This is largely dismissed with a wink and a nod. It is common enough that AA has its own term for it. A study reported in the Journal of Addictions Nursing (Spring 2003) stated:
“Results showed that at least 50% of the participants had at least occasionally experienced seven of the thirteen 13th-stepping behaviors listed in the survey. Also, compared to women who had never attended a female-only AA group, women who had attended such groups reported more 13th-stepping experiences from their attendance at coed groups. Two of the study participants volunteered that men they met in AA had raped them.”
AA has been declared “religious in nature” and court mandated AA to be a violation of the Establishment Clause in 16 states (so far). Florida is not one of them, but they may be worried since the DMV now does much of the mandating.
The NIAAA’s 2001–2002 National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions interviewed over 43,000 people. Using the criteria for alcohol dependence found in the DSM-IV, they found:
“About 75 percent of persons who recover from alcohol dependence do so without seeking any kind of help, including specialty alcohol (rehab) programs and AA. Only 13 percent of people with alcohol dependence ever receive specialty alcohol treatment.”
Maybe you should consider this your wake up call.
Penalties for a DUI in Florida
“1st DUI – 180 day to 1 year revocation effective on conviction date. Before expiration of the revocation period, you may apply for a hardship license in the county where you live. DUI School completion and treatment, if referred, is required. You then can apply for a hardship license in any Administrative Reviews Office (see listing “Under Suspension – Need Driver License for Work”) where you live. If you wait to reinstate your license until your revocation period ends, proof of enrollment or completion of DUI School and treatment, if referred, is required. At the time of reinstatement, whether for a hardship license or a full license, you must take the required examination, and pay $ 115 administrative fee and $ 60 reinstatement fee and any license fee required. Proof of liability insurance on the arrest date will be required or proof of liability coverage and a $ 15 reinstatement fee will be required.”
http://www.dui.com/florida/
Here’s a blog about DUI schools that has some good tips:
http://duischooltruth.wordpress.com