KUDOS, DRUG COURT

After 10 Years, 291 Lives Have Turned Around, and Taxpayers Are Among
the Beneficiaries

Three-fourths of drug court graduates are not arrested in the two
years following their participation in the program. By contrast, 80
percent of incarcerated drug offenders are re-arrested after they are
released. Even drug offenders who don't graduate from drug court -- but
at least gave it a try -- have lower recidivism rates than defendants
who receive no treatment for drug abuse.

But set aside for a moment the humanitarian component of drug courts
and look at the issue through the prism of a taxpayer who doesn't give
two hoots about drug addicts, whose only interest is return on
investment. From that perspective, drug courts make good sense
because, for every dollar spent on this type of treatment, an
estimated two dollars are saved somewhere down the line in arrests not
made, trials not needed, and costly imprisonments not imposed.

Although you don't hear much scoffing or criticism about drug courts
these days, that wasn't always the case. When then-prosecutor Janet
Reno began drug courts in Miami 20 years ago (four years before she
became U.S. attorney general), the concept was not universally
accepted. Too much coddling of criminals, skeptics complained. Throw
the bums behind bars, cried members of the zero-tolerance crowd.

And when drug courts began here in Clark County 10 years ago, there
likely was ample cynicism about offering drug offenders an alternative
to getting jailed. Even the rigor of the drug court -- regular court
appearances, inpatient treatment, a 12-step program, behavior
modification, court approval of where you live and work -- probably did
not convert many of the critics.

As the local drug court continued for a decade, a discouragingly low
graduation rate (only about one-third of those who enter drug courts
finish the program), fortified the critics who insisted it wasn't working.

Today, though, 291 people are no longer drug addicts, thanks to the
local drug court. Even more important for taxpayers, 291 people no
longer are criminals, and no longer are clogging the judicial system.
Expensive, publicly funded jail cells serve no purpose for these
people. They've turned their lives around.

Last month the local drug court observed its 10th anniversary, with a
May 15 celebration at Esther Short Park. Much of the credit for that
decade of success belongs to Superior Court Judge James Rulli, who
started the felony drug court in 1999. Among the success stories, as
Stephanie Rice reported in the print edition of Sunday's Columbian, is
Kenneth Jennings. At age 18, Jennings entered jail for the first time
and began 13 years of legal problems that included two dozen bookings.
He chose drug court only to avoid incarceration, not so much for the
therapeutic value it offered.

Slowly, though, the conversion took hold, and now Jennings is a
married, self-employed general contractor and co-chair of the Clark
County Substance Abuse Advisory Board. He has advanced from a drain on
the public dime to a role model in his community.

The drug court is so effective, it has inspired creation of other
therapeutic courts including family treatment courts (for parents at
risk of losing custody of their children), mental health courts and
drug courts for juvenile offenders.

The collective track record of these therapeutic courts is not
perfect, but they represent an effective, positive alternative to
incarceration. Therapeutic courts, for the most part, have survived
any drastic cuts during these tough economic times. That's because
budget writers understand the value of moving beyond the punishment
phase, and doing what's necessary to change those who enter the
judicial system.