LAWMAKERS SHADOW DRUG COURT JUDGE

Two northern Louisiana lawmakers took a turn Thursday afternoon on the
bench in 4th District Judge Sharon I. Marchman's courtroom.

State Rep. Mike Walsworth, R-West Monroe, and Sen. Robert Barham,
R-Oak Ridge, sat in on a session of 4th District Drug Court, a program
that targets crimes driven by addiction to drugs or alcohol.

The visit was part of a Louisiana Supreme Court program called the
Judicial Ride-Along, created in 1997 to improve communication between
these two branches of government.

The 2004 Ride-Along docket has focused on pairing lawmakers with Drug
Court judges, according to a release from the Supreme Court, "to
expose (them) to the volume and variety of work performed by Drug Courts."

The goal for this court, Marchman said, is not based on incarceration,
but on rehabilitation, and the volume is there.

The legislators stayed at the bench with Marchman when the afternoon
session was complete, asking questions of the drug court treatment
team. The team is composed of representatives from treatment
facilities, Louisiana Probation and Parole, the District Attorney's
Office, Indigent Defender Board, and case managers, among others.

"We maintain about 100 clients," Marchman told the legislators,
"that's the maximum we can take."

Assistant District Attorney Jill Goudeau said there are about 800
additional cases that could qualify for drug court programs.

"This brings home the reality of the challenges we have in Louisiana,"
Barham said. "It affects every family." The question is, he said, how
to address that issue.

"The programs that work are the ones we'd want to fund," Walsworth
said.

And it's the progress of the 4th District Drug Court participants
Marchman hopes the legislators will take back to their session, along
with the challenges.

"Some of these guys are trying. They're really trying," Walsworth
said.