AN ALTERNATIVE TO JAIL

The inauguration of the York County Adult Drug Treatment Court comes at a
time when the government reports that one in 32 American adults is in jail,
on parole or on probation, many of them for low-level drug offenses.

In 1960, the U.S. inmate population stood at a relatively modest 333,000.
By 1980, it had risen to 474,000. But over the next two decades, the prison
population quadrupled to 2 million. Those in the corrections system now
make up 3.1 percent of the nation's adult population, compared to just 1
percent in 1980.

More people have been sent to jail for every category of crime. But the
steep rise is largely attributable to an increase in the number of
prisoners serving time for drug-related crimes. Drug cases now account for
one-third of federal criminal court dockets. And many of those defendants
are low-level, first-time offenders who will serve long prison terms
because of mandatory sentencing laws.

While putting people behind bars may have helped reduce crime, it also has
placed a huge financial burden on public budgets. States spent more than
$25 billion during the past decade on prison construction, and annual
operating costs for state and federal prisons totaled nearly $30 billion.

The numbers are prompting many in the justice system to ask whether there
is a better way. We think York County's new Drug Treatment Court is one
innovative alternative.

The process begins with a defendant being referred by someone within the
justice system - a defense lawyer, a public defender, a police officer or
an official with the Department of Probation and Parole. The defendant must
plead guilty to a charge. The sentence then is deferred, but the person
must complete a drug treatment program or the plea is reinstated and the
client reverts to the regular prosecution and sentencing of the court system.

Officials stress that this is not an easy ticket out of jail. Those who
agree to participate must commit to a six-day-a-week program of random drug
testing, intensive counseling, drug treatment and a weekly court date to
monitor progress.

The idea is to give people who are ready to change their lives an
alternative to jail. It is designed to help them become productive citizens.

Similar programs are working across the nation. Drug treatment courts
already have been instituted in Charleston, Columbia and Greenville in this
state.

We salute Tommy Pope, 16th Circuit solicitor, and all those who have worked
to get this court up and running in York County. And we look forward to the
establishment of a drug treatment court for juveniles scheduled to begin
operating next year.

We have to reduce the number of people behind bars. Drug treatment courts
are one good option.