SEEING THE VALUE OF DRUG COURTS

One can certainly sympathize with Gov. Jeb Bush when he gets choked up
talking about his daughter's experiences in an Orlando drug court. Noelle
Bush has been receiving treatment as a result of an arrest last year for
trying to fraudulently obtain the anti-anxiety drug Xanax. Gov. Bush became
a little emotional - and understandably so - on Wednesday while speaking to
drug court graduates. In acknowledging the value of these programs, Bush
said he hoped to soon be attending a graduation ceremony for one of his
own. But what he didn't say is that he would guarantee the continuation of
drug courts at state expense for all of Florida's families who confront
this difficulty and would go to the mat with the Legislature to protect
their funding.

The future of the drug court program was a political football during the
legislative session that ended on May 2. It was a fight from which Bush was
prominently absent.

In 1998, Floridians amended the state Constitution to require the state to
shoulder its responsibilities and relieve the counties of the burden of
funding the court system by July 1, 2004. Implementing legislation to put
this shift into effect should have been passed during this year's session,
but the House and Senate couldn't come to any agreement. One area of
contention was the continuation of the state's 82 drug courts. The Senate
wanted to maintain them as a vital criminal justice resource, while,
initially at least, the House was planning to defund them as "nonessential."

However, this short break may have helped the House leaders see the light.
Rep. Holly Benson, R-Pensacola, chair of the select committee overseeing
the implementing legislation, says the House will adopt the Senate version
of the drug court language during the upcoming special session. That means
the status quo would be protected, guaranteeing that the state fully fund
at least one drug court in each of the 20 judicial circuits. This includes
case manager positions, an issue that had been a stumbling block to agreement.

In addition to rebuilding lives, these courts save the state money in the
short and long run. Statistics show that graduates are far less likely to
re-offend than drug defendants who go through the regular court system.
Clearly, the value our drug courts is inestimable. Just ask the governor.