Drug courts

Woman in Black posted about drug courts the other day. She wondered how they were handled in other jurisdictions and whether they gave too much power to judges.

Our state is really getting on the bandwagon about “problem-solving courts” but I have really mixed feelings about them. In general, I believe in treatment; we have an enormous meth problem, and meth addicts don’t fix themselves. Send them to prison, they come out and use; put them on straight probation, they use; put them on supervised, they use. But our drug courts seem to be giving too much power/authority to the judges involved, and not nearly enough due process. People get terminated with no hearing at all when the team decides, for example.

I have no experience with drug courts. However, I think that “problem solving” courts and dispositions are preferable to simple incarceration (let’s face it; rehab is no longer a part of incarceration), but they have to be done right. Part of the process of getting over an addiction is failing and trying again, harder. Zero tolerance policies don’t really work and aren’t helpful to anyone. There has to be a long term commitment to each offender’s rehabilitation program.

What do you guys think? How do your states handle drug courts?

The PD blawgosphere has discussed “drug courts” before. [PD Stuff has a fantastic pd blog search tool]