Drug Court Research Paper

I can’t speak for the entire State of Texas but Travis County drug court is making a positive impact on offenders’ lives. Two judges who manage Travis County’s drug court are directing addicts into a court supervised treatment program instead of incarceration. Drug courts like the one in Travis County have successfully handled nonaggressive defendants with drug and alcohol addictions. People who complete drug court programs rarely fall back into substance abuse. Per four drug-court judges surveyed, about 10 percent of program graduates commit new crimes. That’s a recidivism rate of one-fifth that of traditional probation programs. Which shows drug courts can ease the strain on congested penitentiaries and save taxpayer money. A study done by

Drugs have been known to be detrimental to American society. Commonly known as “ The war on drugs”. Majority of individuals who are incarcerated have been convicted of some type of drug offense and if not a drug related crimes. In many instances, a person can be sent to a jail or prison without receiving the required treatment to help the individual overcome their drug of choice. Remarkably, there is a court solely focused on an individual with a drug problem, which is known as Drug courts.

program take defendants through an intensive treatment program lasting for a year or more, with the end result being sober members of the community with stable employment or positive progress through a vocational or educational program (DeKalb County Drug Court, 2006). During the levels of C.L.E.A.N. volunteer defendants have a drug court team. Each team consists of a designated judge, representatives of the State’s Attorney’s Office, the public defender or legal counsel of the defendant, court services, law enforcement, treatment providers, a community representative and a drug court staff member (DeKalb County Drug Court, 2006 p.34). The drug court team meets prior to drug court sessions and acts a case-management team for participants in the C.L.E.A.N. program before each drug court session. Information is shared about the participants based on each team member’s perspective and interaction with them. A professional consensus is gathered from the available knowledge and used in determining the progress through the phases of individual members (DeKalb County Drug Court,

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.

I believe that drug court is the best option for people trying to recover from using drugs. The drug court provides a safe place for people who is trying to recover. Drug courts are there to keep the people away from drugs and the people that do them still so they can get their life put together again. People are in for a minimum of 18 months for people who have felony convictions, but it takes atlas 22 to 25 months to finish the program.

In response to the war on drugs, law enforcement started to crack down on misdemeanor drug laws and increased the convictions for possession and soon after the minor drug violations started to flood the jails and prisons. So to resolve the repeat offenders coming back and serving lengthy sentences, the first drug court was established in Miami-Dade County in Florida in 1989. Many more states and counties followed suit including Maryland in 1993. There has been

Several offenders have benefited from the programs that are designed to address their issues within the drug court. These programs have changed defendants and justice professionals lives by creating new relationships with one another so they could understand what the defendants have been going through prior to being arrested and put into the criminal justice system. I will discuss why this program was implemented, the year and state the first Drug court was implemented.

This year, a drug court will be created at the Melbourne Magistrates Court, Farrah Tomazin writes. This implementation is in conjunction with the Australian Government’s Ice Action Plan, in hopes to halt Australia’s growing methamphetamine issue. The proceedings of a drug court begin with identification of offenders in need of drug treatment, following with community

The National Institute of Justice funds a unique Multi-Site Adult Drug Court Evaluation (Rossman et al., 2011). This evaluation occurs over a five-year period and analyzes the process, impact, and cost evaluation of drug courts from 29 various jurisdictions throughout the United States. Twenty-three drug courts in eight states, Georgia, Florida, and Illinois, New York, Pennsylvania, North and South Carolina, and Washington, are examined throughout the process. This evaluation only chooses certain drug courts, therefore how resources are being implemented, cost savings, and outcomes are only being examined at those drug courts, but what about the other drug court

I visited the treatment court presided over by the Honorable Judge John Brown, who has been with treatment court for the past 3 years. Treatment court is a bi lateral contract between the defendant and the State of Montana where the court provides an avenue for willing participants to integrate themselves back into society, it is an alternative to traditional sentencing where substance abuse is a motivating factor for the offender’s criminal behavior. The five fundamentals of treatment court are as follows, sobriety, responsibility, honesty, integrity, and service. During the 18-month program participants are required to abstain from using any mind-altering substances, they must also report any substance uses to the

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.

For my Civic Engagement project, I plan on studying and learning more about Drug Courts. After reading about drug courts in the state courts chapter and after watching the video, A Better Deal, about the nations first drug court, I immediately got hooked on the topic and wanted to learn more about the court in depth. Before we go more in depth about the topic, let’s take a step back and ask, “What is drug court and what is the purpose for it?” Drug court is a specialized court, meaning it is it’s own court. Drug court is a diversionary program that offers offenders a second chance to correct their drug problems and also offers an alternative route rather than going to prison for breaking the law due to their drug abuse. The goal for drug courts

Drug abuse is shown to be connected to all different kinds of crime in the United States, and in many circumstances, crime is inspired by drug abuse and addiction. In fact, 80% of criminal offenders abuse drugs or alcohol (National Association of Drug Court Professionals). Also, 60% of those who are arrested test positive for illicit drugs when they are arrested, and 60-80% commit another crime, typically drug-related, after leaving prison (National Association of Drug Court Professionals). And, even after these individuals put in the time in prison that would allow them to go through the uncomfortable process of detoxing, 95% of them will chose to go back to drug abuse after prison (National Association of Drug Court Professionals). Given these overwhelming statistics, it is clear that drug abuse, and repeated or continued drug abuse, are a serious problem facing the criminal justice system.

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