JUDGE: DRUG COURT RUN 'EFFICIENTLY, EFFECTIVELY'

State District Judge Don Johnson responded Tuesday to criticism that he is
the reason changes are being considered for the Drug Court in East Baton
Rouge Parish, saying he has run the court "efficiently and effectively." In
fact, in a letter sent to several elected officials, Johnson said
statistics from the 19th Judicial District Court show that he has "closed"
more cases in 2003 -- his first year in Drug Court -- than his predecessor
did in any of the previous four years.

According to the letter, Johnson had 1,409 cases "closed" -- which means
the charges were either dismissed or the defendant entered a guilty plea.
The letter says 1,370 cases were closed in 2002, 1,198 in 2001, 1,342 in
2000, 1,356 in 1999 and 1,171 in 1998.

Johnson's letter comes amid plans by other state District Court judges to
drastically change the operations of Drug Court. He sent the letter to
Mayor Bobby Simpson, but also had it delivered to Sheriff Elmer Litchfield,
District Attorney Doug Moreau and state District Judge Bonnie Jackson.

In March, judges adopted a plan that distributes drug cases to all eight
criminal court judges instead of just one. Jackson led the committee that
studied problems with Drug Court and recommended the changes, which could
go into effect as early as Friday.

Moreau, who is opposed to the changes approved by the judges -- along with
several other officials -- has said the judges didn't want to hear
recommendations on alternatives that differed from theirs in a meeting last
week about the Drug Court.

Moreau said Tuesday that Johnson's letter appears to show no change is
needed. He said that if Johnson is handling cases so efficiently, there is
also no reason to stop sending cases to him.

Under the changes to Drug Court, Johnson would not receive any new cases
for about a year while he clears his existing Drug Court docket. After
Johnson empties his docket, he would begin rebuilding a new docket
consisting of a variety of criminal cases.

The only part of Drug Court that will survive the proposed change is a
post-conviction treatment program called Passages, which is monitored by a
judge and requires addicts to get treatment.

Charles Grey, the assistant district attorney who has supervised drug court
for more than a decade, also has been a vocal opponent of the changes.

In a response to Johnson's letter, Grey said in a memo: "Perhaps if it's
not broken, don't fix it."

Grey's response was delivered to the judges Tuesday afternoon and included
a copy of Johnson's letter.

Grey's memo also said: "Because the 'new' changes to drug court were based
upon a perceived crisis situation, Mr. Moreau thought you might want to be
aware of the 'efficiency' and 'effectiveness' with which the drug court has
been operating under the present model."

Sheriff's Chief Criminal Deputy Col. Mike Barnett has said he thinks the
changes will set the parish back a decade when it comes to fighting illegal
drugs.

Barnett said the practice of allotting drug cases to all criminal judges
caused narcotics cases to take a back seat to serious offenses such as
murder, rape and armed robbery. He said the changes are only being done for
the "convenience of the judges."

Jo Bruce, the administrator for the 19th JDC, said the changes do not
require prior approval from the Louisiana Supreme Court. She said that in
the near future, the adopted changes will be sent to the high court for review.