FOR ADDICTS, TIME WELL SERVED

Court Program Helps First-timers Expunge Records, Get Sober

Shirley Robinson was in front of the judge again. But unlike last year,
when she was strung out on crack cocaine and "weighed 80 pounds soaking
wet," her visit Tuesday was a much happier one.

"I have goals and dreams now, where before I had none," a tearful Robinson
said as she announced that she hopes to become a counselor for people with
HIV.

In what was part court procedure and part joyous ceremony, Robinson and 16
others announced that they had completed an alternative sentencing program
and were off drugs.

They were immediately rewarded. The 17 nonviolent drug offenders-the first
to finish the Queens Treatment Court Program-had their cases dismissed and
their records wiped clean.

The pilot program, which began in May, 1998, replaces jail time with a
combination of substance abuse treatment, counseling and regular court
appearances.

U.S. Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-St. Albans), City Council Speaker Peter Vallone
(D-Astoria) and court officials lauded the graduates, some of whom earned
GEDs as part of the program.

"The red carpet will always be open to you at this courthouse, but never
again as a defendant," said New York State Chief Judge Judith Kaye. "Come
as a visitor, come as a tourist, come to visit your new acquaintances." The
Queens pilot program is part of a nationwide movement toward sentencing
alternatives, where judges send first-time, nonviolent drug offenders to
rigorously supervised treatment programs instead of jail. The idea for the
program began in 1989 under Dade County, Fla., prosecutor Janet Reno. It
has since grown to nearly 300 such programs across the country, including
15 in New York State.

Nationally, recidivism rates for such programs average about 10 percent for
graduates and 30 percent for all other participants, according to figures
from the Brooklyn Drug Treatment Court, the busiest in the country. That's
well under the 50 percent re-arrest rate for drug offenders who do jail
time.

And the time between arrests is generally much longer, said John Roman of
the Urban Institute, a nonpartisan research association in Washington.
Roman estimated the savings for a similar program in Washington is about $2
for every $1 spent.

In the Queens program, which is open to defendants over age 17, State
Supreme Court Judge Leslie Leach works closely with each of the 250 people
currently enrolled, making sure they appear at regularly scheduled monthly
meetings and deciding what to do if they miss a court date or flunk a drug
test.

To graduate, participants must pass a drug treatment program, make plans
for the future, perform community service and remain drug-free for a year.

Sometimes Leach makes participants write an essay or sit in court all day
and watch the proceedings.

"Sometimes I feel like I'm giving lectures to my kids," Leach said in a
recent interview. "For these nonviolent offenders, where there's an
addiction, it's great for me to be able to treat instead of punish. It's a
different relationship; you get more involved with the participants."
Robinson said she was afraid of Leach at first. "I started out looking at
him here," she said on Tuesday, holding her hands down at waist level. "Now
I can look him in the eye."