DRUG TREATMENT COURT HONORS ITS 1ST GRADUATE

In late 2004, Jimmy Mitchell Godwin saw years of prison in his
future. He was addicted to cocaine. He had broken into homes and
stolen to support his habit, and he got caught. The state took away
his two young children.

But 18 months later, instead of sitting in a prison cell, the
25-year-old Fayetteville native put on a sharp gray suit and made
history at the county courthouse. On Tuesday, he became the first
person to graduate from the Cumberland County Drug Treatment Court.

Godwin spent the afternoon grinning, shaking hands and hugging
well-wishers. He received a standing ovation from about 90 people in
District Court Judge Kim Tucker's courtroom.

"It takes time, and it takes a lot of effort," Godwin said of the
program. "It takes a little bit out of you."

Drug treatment courts got their start in 1989 in Florida, according
to Robert Fisher, who was head of the Cumberland County program until
last week.

North Carolina opened its first drug court in Charlotte in 1993.
Cumberland County's program started in January 2005 with a $212,000
grant that covered its start-up costs and first 18 months of
operations. In July, the court will begin operating on a $50,000
annual budget from the state.

Unlike normal court, where people may go months between appearances,
Drug Treatment Court mandates that participants appear before a judge
every two weeks.

In between appearances, they're subject to curfews, some as early as
7 p.m. They also face random drug tests, get drug treatment and have
to work or go to school.

"This is an intensive probation," said Tucker, the drug court judge.
"This is is much more difficult than regular probation."

Those who make progress are rewarded with praise, applause and
incentives such as gift certificates donated by stores and restaurants.

Those who fall back - miss curfew, fail a random drug test or leave
the county without permission - have to stand up in front of Tucker
and their drug court peers and explain what went wrong.

Tucker could send them to jail for a few days to punish them.

The close scrutiny coupled with the rehab and education is aimed at
breaking the cycle of crime, Tucker said.

If the participants go to prison instead of drug court, "they still
don't have a degree. They still don't have a job. They still don't
have anywhere to live," Tucker said.

"They still aren't taking care of their children, and when they get
out the only thing they know is what got them there in the first
place and they go right back to that."

Godwin agrees.

"It actually gives somebody help," he said. "This program helps you
realize your problems and it helps you with the treatment and it
helps you with the support to get through your problems."

On Tuesday, after Godwin graduated from the program, two other drug
court participants were promoted to the third and final level of the
program's three stages of advancement. Three other participants who
failed random drug tests were sent to a glass-walled prisoner's box
in the front of the courtroom.

The audience, giddy with Godwin's graduation and the two promotions,
turned somber.

Tucker said one of the three people sent to the box will likely be
kicked out of the program. The woman was warned repeatedly to shape
up but tested positive for cocaine Sunday. Her probable next stop: prison.

As of Tuesday, Godwin had been free of drugs for 350 days. Throughout
the program he faced charges of cocaine possession, breaking and
entering, larceny and possession of stolen goods.

After his graduation, Assistant District Attorney Claire Hill told
Tucker that the state is dropping the charges, an option with some -
but not all - drug court defendants.

Godwin's next stop is college. He said he starts at Fayetteville
Technical Community College next week.

"I'm going back to school to be a drug counselor," he said.