Drug Court Research Paper

According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, in the last few years, prisoners serving time for drug related chargers made up almost 50% of sentenced prisoners under federal jurisdiction. With the highest amount of drug related incarnations, The United States has a staggering 6.8 million Americans struggling with drug abuse. It is without doubt that the prison population is driven largely by incarceration for drug offenses. It is often argued whether the punishment fits the crime, and often questioned if the government is wasting money on prisoners incarcerated for drug related offenses. With this in mind, I believe the punishments for drug related offenses are not harsh, and in fact with the increasing amount of drug users and drug

Drug courts, and other recovery programs hold promise for retaining offenders involved with drugs in treatment services (SAMHSA, 2014, p.131-132). The first drug court formed in 1989 in Southern Florida. The change in the criminal justice system came when, tired of seeing the same offenders appear before the court under the same or similar charges. The group of professionals in Miami-Dade County combined drug treatment programs with criminal justice structure and authority of the judicial system (Franco, C. 2010). Since then, over 2,000 drug court programs have been adopted in communities across the country, though each court houses its own eligibility requirements, making it somewhat difficult to account for the success of drug courts as a

Not only do the eligibility requirements of drug courts vary across the board, but the way the programs operate and their outcomes vary considerably, especially when it comes down to how they choose to operationalize the ten key components (Carey & Waller, 2011; Mackin et. al, 2009). In 1997, the National Association of Drug Court Professionals published these key components. The first key component is that drug courts integrate alcohol and other drug treatment services with justice system case processing (NADCP, 1997). Being that the mission of drug courts is to combat the abuse of drugs and alcohol it is imperative for them to promote recovery through coordinated responses. The second key component states that drug courts should use a

Drug Courts came about as a result of a backlogged court system and a steady, rapidly increasing prison population. Drug courts are a form of diversion that helps the offender through rehabilitation and the community through an increased sense of protection, which serves the best interest of everyone. Drug Courts are community based intermediate sanctions that incorporate treatment principles into the Criminal Justice System and divert drug offenders from traditional punishments of probation and prison. The objective of drug courts programs is to treat the underlying problems of addiction among drug offenders and eliminate participants’ future drug use and crime.

The regular way they deal with the drug problem and people getting caught with the drugs isn't working. All they do is charge them and send them to jail. That isn't teaching them anything. For one they aren't getting major consequences for it. Second they aren't getting any help from stopping the drugs. They basically just pay money and sit in a cell nothing getting taught to them how to stop or not getting punished for it. These people need help stopping so they can stop letting their families down and ruining their lives. The drug court is there for this purpose. It is there to help people that want to recover and get their lives together. This teaches people that what they have been doing is wrong and gets them on the right track. When people learn and go through this program it will decrease the number of crimes. This court is not a waste of money, this is a program that will gradually give people their lives and family back. I would say numbers of people would give their money to get their love ones back and out of drugs. With most people money is nothing when it comes to

Drug court is an alternative sentencing program to rehabilitate defendants who were arrested for selling, using and abusing drugs. Drug court is not set up like the traditional court system within the criminal justice system, it’s a court system that addresses several issues defendants are going through prior to being in the criminal justice system and it also help reduce court dockets within the system.

In most cases, one of the main objectives of courts and the sentences they impose is that of rehabilitation. This is evidenced through a growing move in favour of a more holistic approach to justice, trying to address the issues which may have led to the crime, rather than just punishing the end result. One of the prime examples of this therapeutic approach to justice is the introduction of the Drug Court. Governed by the Drug Court Act 1998, the Drug court has both Local court and District court jurisdiction, and seeks to target the causes of drug-related criminal behaviour. It achieves this by ensuring that those who go through it receive treatment for their addictions, thereby reducing their propensity to reoffend, as many crimes are motivated by the need to satisfy addictions.

When facing criminal drug charges, there is nothing more indispensable than a criminal drug attorney. The legal consequences in these types of criminal cases can be grave. A drugs attorney is absolutely necessary to help a defendant through the complex legal landscape that is to follow. It is important to note, though, that not all attorneys are the same and that it is important to be careful when choosing a lawyer. There are certain key factors to look for in a drug attorney search that any competent criminal drug attorney will have.

Last Thursday, Cristi Beaumont spoke to our class about Drug Court and her experience with the grant writing process. The drug court program sounds like an amazing program for individuals who utilize it. Drug court integrates substance abusers into society by helping them find employment and housing. Something Cristi said about the program I found especially interesting was the progressive punishments. The people who run this program understand that addiction is a disease and the clients are going to have slip ups and make mistakes. Progressive punishments are utilized instead of handing out the harshest punishment for a very first offense.

Currently, drug courts have been proven to be successful at reducing recidivism of offenders. In the United States there are about 120,000 people receiving help in order to rehabilitate them and to try to reduce the chances of recidivism (Office of National Drug Control Policy, 2011). These programs require individuals to participate in the programs for a minimum of one year. During this year the individuals are required to appear in court and be drug tested at

Drug courts are defined as specialized courts designed to help addicts overcome addiction in lieu of automatic incarceration, when found guilty of a drug related offense. Drug courts will be measured as a specialized court holding the authority to mandate someone to participate in a structured controlled treatment program in lieu of prison or jail time.

For the vast majority of crimes committed in the United States, the fate of those who have been found guilty is left in the hands of a judge, after a trial by jury. However, since the 1950’s the fate of nonviolent drug offenders has been shifted to the hands of the partisan prosecution with the expansion of mandatory sentencing. Mandatory minimum sentencing is a system which sets minimum jail sentences for crimes, which not even judges can overturn. In the decades after the 1950s, with the increasing war on drugs, minimum sentencing laws have spread further and further into nonviolent drug related crimes, the effects of which have been almost universally negative. Mandatory minimum sentencing for nonviolent drug crimes has proved to be a cost ineffective system which exacerbates the problem of mass incarceration while failing to deter crime, provide rehabilitation, and lower drug usage.

In 1989, the first drug court was established in Miami-Dade County, Florida. Sent than Drug court has spread throughout the United States of America as an alternative sentencing program to rehabilitate defendants who were arrested for selling, using and abusing drugs. Drug court is set up with calendars and court dockets, like the traditional courts within the criminal justice system.

The opening of the Miami-Dade County Drug Court in 1989 was the catalyst that inspired other jurisdictions around the country to create specialized courts that linked drug offenders to judicially monitored treatment (Wolf, A New Way of Doing Business, 2009). Similarly in New York City, the opening of the Midtown Court in 1993 set the example for stressed communities across the country by combining punishment and helps to steer low-level offenders in a law-abiding direction (Wolf, A New Way of Doing Business, 2009).

Yes, I do find support with the literature where the criticism is mounted against institutional policy about the drug court. People are not jubilant that a judge that is not a licensed physician should be sanctioned rehabilitation without doctor recommendation. I, therefore, find that National drug is very much in a fight with local and states authority because of the rigid drug court policy. As denoted by Kraft, & Furlong (2017) Alternative policy instruments can often achieve policy objectives at lower cost and more efficacious than traditional „command and control‟ instruments. They can, therefore, be an expedient of reducing administrative burdens imposed on businesses and others. According to Hepburn 2005 pp. 18-19 stated that