DRUG COURT'S GOAL: A CLEAN START FOR THE ADDICTED

BREWTON -- A year ago, court officials here were tired of seeing the
defendants with crimes rooted in substance addictions returning again and
again. One judge wanted to try something different.

In a few weeks, Escambia County Drug Court will hold its first graduation
ceremony where participants will have their pending criminal cases set
aside -- and the addictions that brought them to jail under control.

"I started to give up on my son," said Pat Faulkner, the mother of a
42-year-old man addicted to crack cocaine. He has been in the program since
May. "This program is working. Recovering is hard, I know, but with time,
I'm beginning to hope."

Drug courts are a fast-growing type of community-based alternative
sentencing that started in Florida courts more than a decade ago. The
programs allow people whose addictions led them into nonviolent offenses to
plead guilty, then follow closely supervised drug treatment for a year.

If the participants successfully fulfill the requirements -- graduation
equivalency, employment, registration to vote and no further crimes or drug
use among them -- they graduate and have their cases set aside. If they
fail to follow the rules, they do jail time, have to repeat part of the
program or are sent directly to prison.

So far, 49 people have been accepted into the Escambia County program.
Eighteen are in the first phase, where participants attend classes three
days a week and court every Friday. They have frequent drug tests and must
do community service and pay for their treatment sessions.

In Phase II, 12 people are working toward getting employed or attending
school. They have classes two days a week and attend court every other
Friday. Another dozen are working in Phase III, close to having all their
fines and fees paid, close to winning a clean start.

One participant withdrew; one was shot and killed at an area nightclub.
Five were sen tenced to prison for violations of the rules.

In the year since the program started, 22 secured jobs and three are in
school. In August, state officials notified administrators of Drug Court --
which was started with no funding -- that a $75,000 federal grant had been
approved to help expand the program, along with other community-based
corrections programs that might ease overcrowding in state prisons.

During the past six months, the Mobile Register probed the lives of two
Drug Court participants who agreed to have their stories told. Richard
Allen Faulkner was a well-paid oil field electrician until crack cocaine
took his livelihood, his marriage and, finally, his freedom. Dianna Wiggins
used to be a stay-at-home mom, living a comfortable life with her husband
and three children. Her husband's death changed all that, and she lost her
family, home and, finally, her freedom to a methamphetamine addiction.

In the coming months, the Register will publish updates on their progress,
chronicling their fights to complete the Drug Court's requirements and
reclaim their lives.

"Drug Court is not easy," Circuit Judge Bradley Byrne told a new
participant last month. "There are a lot of requirements, and we expect a
lot of you. ... Officer Jerry Caylor will check on you at home, work,
wherever -- we will work to keep you honest with yourself. If you are
successful, your charges will be dropped. If not, a felony conviction stays
with you the rest of your life."