# Does A.A. sign court slips or write letters for courts and probation?

**In short:**
- The Big Book says nothing about court slips, probation or letters to courts. Courts come up only in passing in the 1939 text: Bill's old school friend was spared commitment when two men "appeared in court, persuading the judge to suspend his commitment" (p. 9); a member making amends faced an arrest order over unpaid alimony (p. 79); and Chapter 7 expects members to make trips to "police courts" to help other alcoholics (p. 97).
- Today's group pamphlet lists, among the things A.A. does not do, "Provide letters of reference to parole boards, attorneys, court officials, schools, businesses, social agencies, or any other organization or institution." (P-16, 2018). A.A. also doesn't keep membership records or "Follow up or try to control its members" (P-16, 2018).
- Whether a group or a member may sign an attendance slip is not settled by any text in our sources. P-16 refers to an A.A. Guideline, "Cooperating with Court, D.W.I., and Similar Programs," which isn't in our sources.
- These texts describe what A.A. and its groups do. Courts and probation offices set their own requirements.

## The 1939 text

The Big Book doesn't address court-ordered attendance. Courts appear in three places. In "Bill's Story," the old school friend who brought Bill the message had been headed for commitment until "two men had appeared in court, persuading the judge to suspend his commitment" (p. 9). And in Chapter 7, helping others may mean "innumerable trips to police courts, sanitariums, hospitals, jails and asylums" (p. 97). In both, people go to court on a drinker's behalf. The third is in Chapter 6, on amends: a man whose first wife "went to court and got an order for his arrest" (p. 79) over unpaid alimony wrote to her instead of walking up to the judge, and the matter was settled (p. 79). None of the three involves reporting on anyone's attendance.

What the book does say about pressure is mixed, and worth reading whole:
- On the newcomer and the program, it is firm that no one should be pushed. "He should not be pushed or prodded by you, his wife, or his friends." (p. 95). When a man is given the book, "it is best that no one tell him he must abide by its suggestions" (p. 144).
- On the drinking itself, it approves of outside firmness. Chapter 10 advises an employer to tell an alcoholic employee that his drinking "must stop" (p. 141), and says "A firm attitude at this point has helped many of us." (p. 142). If the man won't stop, he may as well be discharged (pp. 141–142).

So the book separates pressure to stop drinking, which it doesn't object to from an employer, from pressure to follow its suggestions, which it advises against ("the more you hurry him the longer his recovery may be delayed," p. 113). It says nothing about anyone verifying attendance.

## The 1946–47 texts

- Tradition Three's Long Form: membership never depends "upon money or conformity" (p. 563).
- Bill W. on the member, 1946: "He signs nothing, agrees to nothing, promises nothing." (P-17, "Who Is a Member of Alcoholics Anonymous?", 1946). "We demand nothing." (same essay).
- On authority, 1947: A.A. has "no demand that alcoholics conform to A.A. principles, no one set in personal authority over anyone else" (P-17, "Will A.A. Ever Have a Personal Government?", 1947).
- Tradition Six: an A.A. group "may cooperate with anyone," but not as far as "affiliation or endorsement, actual or implied" (p. 564).

None of these speaks to court slips. They describe a fellowship that keeps no hold over its members and is answerable to no outside body.

In 1955 Bill named one court-related practice that he counted among the harmful anonymity breaks of A.A.'s early years: members who "sat on benches with police court judges, advising which drunks in the lineup should go to A.A. and which to jail" (P-17, "Why Alcoholics Anonymous Is Anonymous", 1955). His objection, in context, was to members publicly using the A.A. name in public affairs.

## Today (2018)

*The A.A. Group* (P-16), "What A.A. Does Not Do," includes:
- Keep membership records or case histories.
- Follow up or try to control its members.
- "Provide letters of reference to parole boards, attorneys, court officials, schools, businesses, social agencies, or any other organization or institution." (P-16, 2018).

The same pamphlet describes cooperation with the courts at the level of service work: Cooperation with the Professional Community committees work with educators, physicians, clergy, court officials and others who meet active alcoholics, on the basis of "cooperation but not affiliation" (P-16, 2018), and corrections committees take A.A. meetings into prisons and jails where allowed. Among the A.A. Guidelines it lists is "Cooperating with Court, D.W.I., and Similar Programs." That guideline is not in our sources, so this page doesn't say what it contains.

## What our sources don't settle

The texts in our sources say A.A. doesn't write letters of reference and doesn't track or follow up its members. They don't say whether a meeting secretary or a member may sign a slip showing that someone attended, and this page doesn't answer that. Ask the group, the local intergroup or central office, or see A.A.'s guideline on court programs.

## Read it yourself
- Chapter 7, "Working With Others" (pp. 89–103): https://www.aa.org/sites/default/files/2021-11/en_bigbook_chapt7.pdf
- Chapter 10, "To Employers" (pp. 136–150): https://www.aa.org/sites/default/files/2021-11/en_bigbook_chapt10.pdf
- Appendix I, "The A.A. Tradition" (pp. 561–566): https://www.aa.org/sites/default/files/2021-11/en_bigbook_appendicei.pdf
- P-17, *A.A. Tradition — How It Developed*: https://www.aa.org/sites/default/files/literature/assets/p-17_AATraditions.pdf
- P-16, *The A.A. Group* ("What A.A. Does Not Do," p. 39): https://www.aa.org/sites/default/files/literature/p-16_0723.pdf
- Related: *Is A.A. a treatment program? Does it provide detox, housing or counselling?* · *Where does "cooperation but not affiliation" come from?*

## Sources
| Source | Pages | First published |
|---|---|---|
| *Alcoholics Anonymous*, Chapters 1, 6, 7, 8, 10 | 9, 79, 95, 97, 113, 141–142, 144 | 1939 |
| *Alcoholics Anonymous*, Appendix I, Traditions Three and Six (Long Form) | 563–564 | 1946 |
| P-17, "Who Is a Member of Alcoholics Anonymous?" | — | 1946 |
| P-17, "Will A.A. Ever Have a Personal Government?" | — | 1947 |
| P-17, "Why Alcoholics Anonymous Is Anonymous" | — | 1955 |
| P-16, *The A.A. Group* | 25–26, 37, 39 | 2018 |

Big Book page numbers are from the fourth edition (2001).

*Recovery Starts is independent and not affiliated with Alcoholics Anonymous. Quotations are brief and cited; the Big Book and P-16 are © A.A. World Services, Inc.; the P-17 articles are © AA Grapevine, Inc.*