SUPREME COURT RULES AGAINST DRUG COURT

Says Amending, Extending Sentences Is Uncontitutional

FRANKFORT -- Not unlike dozens of other Hardin County Drug Court
candidates, Amanda R. Gaddie chose the rigorous get-clean program
over jail time when a judge threatened revocation of her 90-day
probated sentence for a 2003 drug possession conviction.

But when she failed to show up for the first day of Drug Court,
Gaddie faced consequences far greater than her original 90-day sentence.

Because of her failure to comply with the strict Drug Court regimen,
she was sentenced to the maximum for a misdemeanor drug crime -- 12
months in county jail.

Amending probated sentences by extending jail stays has been the norm
since Hardin County Drug Court began, but that will change now since
the Kentucky Supreme Court on Wednesday found such action by the
court to be unconstitutional.

Justices, in making their affirmation of a Court of Appeals decision
from six months ago, cited the Constitution in their written opinion.

"Upon a finding of guilt, (a convict) is entitled to have his
sentence fixed with certainty and finality. Constitutional
restraints prevent subsequent enhancement," the court's opinion stated.

Wednesday's state Supreme Court opinion will prevent Hardin County
Drug Court from amending and extending original sentences in the
future, but First Assistant County Attorney Jenny Pitts said the
ruling won't negatively affect the Drug Court program.

According to Pitts, the enhanced sentences were made as a stipulation
to convicts' enrollment in Drug Court to ensure their seriousness
about quitting drugs. She said Drug Court candidates still might be
leveraged into successful completion of the program by either
increasing the original probated sentences to 12 months instead of 90
days, or through a complete withdraw of the initial guilty plea.

The decision will not produce a mass exodus from the jailhouse
though, she said.

"When the Court of Appeals ruled against us six months ago, we
amended those 12 month sentences back to 90 day sentences and let
them out (of jail)," Pitts said. "This just means they won't be going back."

Shane Young, the attorney who won the appeal for Gaddie, said the
decision merely was a procedural matter for Drug Court to reassess.
He talked highly of the Drug Court concept.

"Drug Court is probably the most important advance in court
procedures," he said. "Lives get changed, people get their kids back,
it's huge."