DRUG COURT OFFERS ALTERNATIVE

The nation's criminal justice system is adept at putting people behind bars
but less so at turning lawbreakers into productive citizens. York County's
drug treatment court helps balance the ledger in a modest way, serving as
an example the rest of the state might want to emulate. A year ago, the
number of inmates in American prisons topped 2 million for the first time.
The United States now locks up more of its citizens than any other
prosperous nation in the world.

The increase in the prison population over the past three decades has been
astonishing. In 1980, the number of prisoners stood at 474,000, less than a
fourth of the current number of people behind bars. And the increase has
been fueled in large part by tough penalties meted out to drug abusers and
traffickers, many of them low-level, first-time offenders. But while the
quadrupling of the prison population may have reduced serious crimes -- in
part, simply because so many people are incarcerated -- it also has placed
a huge financial burden on state economies while, at the same time,
reducing the money and manpower available for rehabilitation.

The county's drug treatment court offers an alternative. Initiated in
October 2001 by Tommy Pope's 16th Circuit Solicitor's Office, the court
gives a select group of nonviolent drug offenders an alternative to jail.
And on Thursday, four men and one woman became the first graduates of the
court's drug treatment and rehabilitation program.

About 55 people are in various stages of the program, and so far more than
80 percent of those who have entered the program have stuck with it. That
is an impressive figure; this program is no easy ticket out of jail.

The process begins with a defendant being referred by someone within the
justice system, usually a defense lawyer or public defender. The defendant
then must plead guilty to a charge, but the sentence is deferred when the
defendant enters a drug treatment program administered by Keystone
Substance Abuse Services. If the client then fails to complete the program,
the plea is reinstated and he or she is back in the regular court system.

But the focus Thursday was on the five people who endured 18 months of
random drug testing, intensive counseling, drug treatment and weekly court
appearances to monitor progress. While recovery can be a lifelong process,
these five now have a much better chance of turning their lives around than
they did a year and a half ago.

With a $500 million deficit, the state can barely afford its corrections
system. The cost of a drug-rehabilitation program is a fraction of what it
costs to feed, clothe and house a prison-er. And treatment is far more
likely to deter recidivism than hard time.

A number of other states already have established or are considering
drug-treatment diversion programs, most of them similar to York County's.
Currently, only a few drug treatment courts have been instituted in South
Carolina, all funded by federal money with state matching funds.

We think the state should investigate expanding the drug court system
statewide, using existing courts as models. If it works in York County,
there is no reason it cannot yield similar results across the state.

For now, however, we congratulate all those involved in the local program,
including Ann Melton, diversion programs director for the solicitor's
office, Derek Chiarenza, drug court judge, Jamie Ferguson, treatment
director at Keystone, and all those who help make this program a success.

Above all, however, we congratulate those who successfully completed the
program. We wish them well in their recovery.