REHABILITATION OVER PUNISHMENT GOAL OF ADULT DRUG COURT

Rehabilitation Over Punishment Goal Of Adult Drug Court But Some Will Be
Troubled That The Judicial Process By Which Some Offenders Will Be Offer
Treatment Rather Than Jail Time Will Not Be Open To The Public.

PROVIDENCE -- An innovative effort to divert drug users from a life of
crime kicked off this week when the Superior Court launched a drug court.

The Adult Drug Court sends drug users caught in minor, nonviolent crimes to
treatment, rather than prison.

The goal is to cure users of their addictions so they do not resort to
shoplifting, robbery and other crimes to support their drug habits.

A probation officer will work with treatment facilities to monitor the
participants' progress, help them find jobs and address other problems.

Users who successfully complete treatment find their criminal charges
dropped. But users who fail treatment get sentenced.

Rhode Island's judiciary is the latest system to adopt this
carrot-and-stick approach, which has proliferated nationally.

Open-government advocates in the state may have a problem: drug court
proceedings and information about participants are closed to the public.

Yet the court officials, state prosecutors, lawyers and health officials
who established the program see great promise for reducing crime.

"Really for the first time, we're trying to address the root of the
problem," said Asst. Atty. Gen. William R. Guglietta, who helped organize
the court.

On Wednesday, Superior Court Judge Edward C. Clifton, who presides over the
drug court, heard its first case.

Clifton sent a homeless person, arrested recently in Providence on a charge
of cocaine possession, to a residential drug-treatment program.

The person will have to be there for at least two weeks, if not longer.
Then, the person may have to get out-patient treatment.

The person's performance will be monitored. For example, the person will
have to take drug tests regularly.

And periodically, the person will have to appear in court so the judge,
prosecutor, public defender and a probation official can review the case.

In the end, if the person successfully completes treatment, then the felony
cocaine-possession charge is dismissed.

If the person fails the program, however, then the person will be sentenced
as if sent through the normal court process.

"It seems to make so much sense and seems to be so effective elsewhere I'm
almost embarrassed we haven't had it," said Kerry O'Neill, chief of
treatment services at the state Department of Mental Health and Retardation.

The court results from a collaboration of that department, the probation
department, the Superior Court and the offices of the attorney general and
public defender.

Lawyers and public defenders will refer clients to the attorney general's
office, which will decide whether to place people in the court.

Organizers expect the addicts' road to recovery will be bumpy, with
relapses along the way. They don't expect everyone to graduate.

And they envision a slow start, with the court handling few cases this year
as the kinks are worked out. The court will probably convene once a week.

A more serious obstacle to the court's development, organizers said, is
money. Guglietta expects the court to cost $500,000 a year. This year,
various agencies are relying on a federal grant and using existing staff.

Organizers hope to obtain financing from the state legislature. They are
also soliciting private foundations.

"My concern is that it will hopefully have funding for the treatment," said
Assistant Public Defender David Cannon. "Without good follow-through and
the availability of beds, it's not going to work."

Like the other organizers, Cannon championed the court as not only
benefitting drug addicts but all Rhode Islanders preyed upon by addicts
seeking money. They also said it is cheaper to treat than to incarcerate.

Defense lawyers also support the court because it offers their clients a
way out of their destructive habits and a chance to get charges dismissed.

"The problem is there are so many repeat offenders out there, you could put
in 40 a day," said Edward C. Roy, president of the Rhode Island Association
of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

At the heart of the drug-court idea is a criticism of efforts to stop the
flow of drugs into the United States.

Saying such interdiction was failing, drug professionals urged reducing the
demand for drugs by treating addicts.

First established in 1989, drug courts have flourished since 1993, when the
Clinton administration increased federal funding.

Now there are more than 450 drug courts nationwide, said Elizabeth Piper
Deschenes, author of The Early Drug Court .

David W. Murray, director of the Statistical Assessment Service, a
nonprofit organization in Washington, D.C., said the courts reduce
recidivism rates.

Murray said various studies show that drug-court graduates later go to jail
just 20 percent to 30 percent of the time.

He said drug offenders who go through the normal court process and are sent
to jail, on the other hand, return to jail nearly 70 percent of the time.

But Murray said the keys to the court's success are sufficient resources to
treat people and close monitoring of participants' progress.

In late 1999, the Family Court opened a drug court for juveniles. In 2000,
that court enrolled 57 participants, according to the most recent
statistics. Eight have successfully completed the program and 43 are
receiving treatment. The rest withdrew or were forced to leave.

The drug-court idea has its opponents -- and not only among strong
law-and-order advocates who prefer punishment to treatment.

Members of the drug-policy reform movement, which favors the legalization
of drugs, oppose government treatment and the government's access to
confidential medical records.

They also oppose channeling social-service money through the
criminal-justice system.

"More and more of the money is going into and through the criminal-justice
system whereas the resources for the treatment community are dwindling,"
said Ethan Nadelman, executive director of The Lindesmith Center-Drug
Policy Foundation, in New York City.