DRUG COURT HAILED AS A SUCCESS

Program Is Aiming To Double In Size

After nearly a year of operation, St. Bernard Parish's drug court has
become a life-changing safety net for nearly three dozen drug-or
alcohol-addicted people.

The court -- which has served 32 people since its inception in July --
allows those arrested for nonviolent drug crimes who have no prior
convictions to enter an intensive four-stage treatment program rather than
go to jail. The program can take 12 to 18 months to complete, and upon
graduating, a patient's conviction is wiped from his or her record.

Thanks to encouraging statistics so far, the program will be doubling in
size to 60 people pending state Supreme Court approval, said state District
Judge Manny Fernandez, who helped organize and establish the drug court.

Fernandez said local officials also have asked the Supreme Court to grant
money for a juvenile drug court in St. Bernard in hopes of establishing one
in the next three to four months.

If financing is granted, the juvenile court will oversee drug offenders
younger than 17 and work closely with schools to ensure that its
participants complete their education.

Sal Cusimano, the indigent defense attorney for the drug court program,
said participants show remarkable physical and personality improvement
after a few months in the program. Once off drugs or alcohol, they become
healthier, happier and more optimistic, he said. Cusimano attributed this
success to the frequent counseling, drug tests and court visits required of
participants.

"When they know they gotta see the big guy in the black robe every week,
that's enough to stop them from using," he said.

Group therapy is the crux of the program, he said.

"I don't think anyone with a serious drug addiction can beat it by
themselves," he said.

Craig Taffaro, the program's treatment director and a parish councilman,
agreed that the drug court program has helped many offenders: "When it
clicks for them and they truly invest in the recovery process, there is a
dramatic improvement in their quality of life."

State District Judge Wayne Cresap, who supervises the people in the
program, said his charges do not revert to drugs because "we don't give
them an opportunity to."

"These people really don't go more than 24 hours without going to an AA
(Alcoholics Anonymous) meeting or counseling session, or having someone
call them or drug-test them," he said. The program's patients are contacted
about 60 times a month, Cresap said.

The rigorous program is not "the easy way to get out of jail," Cusimano said.

Positive drug tests incur stiff penalties, ranging from a weekend in prison
to expulsion from the program -- upon which a patient must resume his or
her original jail sentence.

Despite these penalties, nearly half the patients slip up at some point.
Since the program's start, two participants have been expelled.

In fact, very few of the 500 people convicted each year for drug-related
crimes apply for the program, Cresap said. Thirty percent to 40 percent are
eliminated based on prior convictions or violent crimes, and most others
choose to simply serve their jail time.

The program costs each patient $200 a month, and patients are required to
work or continue their education while in treatment. They also must pay any
restitution fees for damages incurred during their crimes. The rest of the
program's $4,700-per-person annual cost is paid by grants administered by
the state Supreme Court; based on statistics so far, the program's
recidivism rate is only 10 percent.

In contrast, incarceration in federal prison costs taxpayers more than
$22,000 per inmate per year, according to a 2001 report from the U.S.
Justice Department, and Taffaro said well over half of nonviolent drug
offenders who are sent to prison resume their drug habit.

Though it is still too early to know how well the St. Bernard drug court
treatment program compares to similar programs nationwide, Taffaro said he
is confident his program is "way ahead" of the average.

Besides St. Bernard's program, similar drug court programs are operating in
parishes throughout the state, including Jefferson, Orleans and St. Tammany.