VIGO COUNTY DRUG COURT PARTICIPANTS WORK FOR IMPROVEMENT

TERRE HAUTE -- During a recent court proceeding, the judge asked an
offender if she had anything else to report.

The young woman smiled shyly, saying, "I took my GED
test."

The judge, smiling, said, "My, you have had a lot of good news today --
I think that deserves some popcorn."

Several chuckles could be heard through the room, but Judge Barbara
Brugnaux wasn't kidding. Reaching across to her clerk, the judge took
an unopened pack of microwave popcorn and handed it down from her
platform to the young woman, saying, "Here you go. Keep up the good
work. You're free to go."

The woman, returning to the gallery to retrieve her things before
leaving the courtroom, smiled again as she made her way past the
others waiting their turn.

The exchange took place during a recent session of Vigo County Drug
Court; the woman, a participant in drug court, was checking in with
the judge, who, along with a staff of case managers, coordinates the
court.

Brugnaux presides over Vigo County Superior Court Division 5 - the
court where most DUIs and drug offenses are heard. She spends each
Wednesday morning calling up one by one her most recent flock of
wayward drug addicts and alcoholics.

Brugnaux, who is often seen wearing a stern expression (and who is
generally known in the courts for her strict adherence to courtroom
decorum), breezes into the room for drug court each Wednesday with a
cheery "Good morning!"

A chorus of voices returns her greeting; if they aren't enthusiastic
enough, she says again, "I said, good morning!"

It is a different atmosphere than found in most courtrooms - where
victims, prosecuting attorneys, the accused, public defenders, and
downtrodden family members usually sit quietly on hard benches
waiting, with somber expressions, for any kind of news. Most criminal
courtrooms are quiet, even when packed with people.

But not drug court.

The courtroom on a recent Wednesday was crowded, as usual, but most
participants seemed relaxed; many wore smiles and greeted one another
like old friends. Most of the participants, young and old, see one
another regularly, at the court, at Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics
Anonymous meetings and over at the Community Corrections building,
where they must report for periodic drug screens.

The young children and babies of participants are welcomed by the
judge; she often has commented that drug court helps families
re-establish connections that have been severed because of addiction.

After the warm greeting, Judge Brugnaux, dressed in her regular court
robes, called the room to order and got down to the business of
hearing cases.

About the Program

"Drug court" offers a sentencing alternative for nonviolent,
substance-abusing or -dependent offenders to reduce substance use and
crime within the community. It is an option for individuals who are
arrested and charged with crimes, whether the charges are drug-related
or not. At any one time, there are about 130 people in the program.

The program has been supported in part by federal grant dollars, by
the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute and a Vigo County Drug Court
user fee fund. Brugnaux said some funding also has come from the
county Prosecutor's Office and the County Council.

The program can last anywhere from 18 months to three years for
participants, depending on the crimes charged and their individual
needs.

Each offender who opts to participate in drug court must agree to
admit to the crimes and submit to drug court in place of jail time.
Participants progress through a set of phases, 1 through 5, with more
independence given at each level.

If they succeed, the case usually is dismissed. If they falter or
fail, they can be dismissed from the program and a conviction can be
entered in their case.The most common offenses for placement in the
program include methamphetamine use, operating a vehicle while
intoxicated and marijuana use.

Participants in the program submit to regular drug screens. Ninety-two
percent of drug screens have come back negative, drug-court records
show. The most common positives are marijuana and meth, according to
data from the drug court.

A Different Kind of Court

Regarding her more upbeat demeanor during drug court, Brugnaux says it
tends to provide participants with a positive experience, something
they've rarely felt during court proceedings.

"Often, I've had them come in and it's the first time in a court
they're not receiving a lecture or sanction; they're not getting
community service," Brugnaux said.

"For many this is the first time in their adult lives where someone
has taken that kind of interest in them," she added.

Brugnaux said that being drug court judge is different from her other
judicial duties.

"You get to know [participants] much, much better -- not as well as
their case managers know them, of course ... it's a different way than
anyone else before us," she said.

"But," she added, "you have to be able to switch gears if there's a
relapse."

That was evident during a recent drug court session; after several
participants came to the front and had good reports and uneventful
visits with the judge, one man walked to the front with his head down.

"What do you have to say for yourself?" Brugnaux asked
sternly.

The man, who had blown a 0.04 blood-alcohol content that morning at
the Alcohol and Drug lab across the street, just shrugged.

The penalty was swift.

"You're going to spend the next 24 hours in jail," Brugnaux said,
making a note in the record.

His protests that he could lose his job did not move the
judge.

"I can put you in jail a lot longer," she said. "You didn't have the
sense, at your first appearance, to get here sober ... there's no way
I'm going to let you stand in front of me with alcohol in your system
and not let everyone here know the serious consequences.

"You should have been going to [an AA] meeting yesterday instead of
drinking," she said.

As the deputies moved in to pat down the man, handcuff him and take
him to the jail, audible sighs of regret could be heard from the crowd.

Brugnaux, speaking later during an interview, said, "Everybody in the
program is heavily invested in everybody else's recovery ... that is a
reminder, there but for the grace of God go I."

Bernie Burns, director of the separate Vigo County Alcohol and Drug
Program, who works closely with the drug court, said the swiftness of
the consequences in drug court is part of its success.

After that sobering moment in court, more good reports
followed.

"You are eligible for Phase 4 at end of month," Brugnaux told one
successful participant. A ripple of smiles went through the room. At
least one person in the gallery whispered, "Oh, good!"

Success

The culminating event is graduation from drug court.

Brugnaux, at the most recent graduation ceremony this past Wednesday,
exclaimed to the assembled group that graduation is "my favorite part
of my job."

For the 11 years that the court has been in operation in Vigo County,
more than 320 participants have graduated, successfully fulfilling the
stated conditions.

Of those, the re-arrest rate (or recidivism rate) is 7 percent, based
on a recent study completed in April 2007. The same study showed
thatnon-participants have a re-arrest rate of 39 percent.

During Wednesday's ceremony, seven participants were given
certificates of achievement and encouraged to remain "part of the
recovery community" by Brugnaux.

Graduates were shown "before" and "after" photos of themselves;
several of them laughed along with Brugnaux as they looked at their
unkempt former selves. Others just shook their heads.

As they looked at his before-and-after photo, the judge and
28-year-old Josh Hubble smiled.

"It was more attitude than anything I think," Brugnaux said to him,
commenting on the contrast between the images.

Hubble, after his graduation, addressed the courtroom, saying, "I want
to thank you guys ... the quality of my life is extremely better ... I've
totally changed, people enjoy being around me, the quality of my
friends has improved ... thanks."

Comments from other graduates were similar, including those of one man
who chose not to have his name printed.

He said, "Thank you so much for allowing me to be a part of the
program. It's the one thing that saved me. I was headed the wrong way."

Brugnaux then gave the successful participants a weighty reminder:
"You are still addicts and alcoholics; you will have to work on it
every day."

She added that she and the other drug court staff have tried to give
them the tools they need to stay sober; she encouraged them all to
"remain active in the recovery community."

"If you need help or feel yourself slipping, call us. And if something
good happens in your life, call us. We want to know," she said.

John Hubble, who is Josh Hubble's father, was present during his son's
graduation Wednesday. Afterward, he was full of praise for the program
and how it has turned his son around.

"I praise Judge Brugnaux," he said. "She's quite a lady and this is
quite a program - these people [addicts] dig such a hole for
themselves it's a wonder they're able to get out," he added. "We are
just so thankful, and above all we thank God."

Every Wednesday, at the end of each participant's drug court hearing,
Judge Brugnaux, like a caring parent or teacher, asks the participant,
"Do you have anything else you want to tell me?"

For Josh Hubble, and most of the other drug court participants, the
sentiment is the same: "I was reluctant at first -- but this was the
best thing that could have happened to me."