DRUG COURTS WORK FOR MANY DEFENDANTS, AND THEY CUT COSTS

Brookelyn is the mother of four children; the last was delivered
while she was in state custody shackled to a hospital bed at Grady
Memorial Hospital.

Brookelyn, a drug addict, was already on probation when she was
arrested and charged with felony drug possession, which could have
resulted in 20 years of incarceration for a probation revocation and
another 15 years on the new charge.

Instead, Brookelyn was allowed to enter the Forsyth County Drug Court
Program where she completed three years of judicially supervised,
intensive treatment, all while being closely monitored and
drug-screened throughout.

During this period, Brookelyn came to realize that in order to be a
responsible citizen and, more importantly, a responsible parent, she
must stay clean and sober and stop trying to manipulate the system.

Drug courts work. I've been presiding over one since 2004. The drug
court model calls for intensive judicial supervision over generally
first offenders with no history of drug selling or violence as they
receive an appropriate array of treatment and services, all while
holding them strictly accountable for their behavior.

Drug and other accountability courts offer a chance at reform and
redemption. The threat of prison is a strong incentive for
participants to succeed.

If the drug court participant fails to follow the court-ordered plan
and program, they know that prison is exactly where they will end up.

A recent report by the Georgia Department of Audits revealed that
adult felony drug courts in Georgia offer better outcomes;
specifically, lower recidivism rates, higher sobriety levels and much
lower costs to Georgia taxpayers in that fewer people go to prison,
more go on to work and more families remain intact.

I personally know that while drug courts require substantial
resources in terms of staff and court time, it is worth that cost to
provide an opportunity for certain criminal defendants to turn their
lives around and become productive members of society.

Quoting a paper from the Georgia Public Policy Foundation: "Georgia's
criminal justice system is ripe for reform. In Georgia, about one
adult in 13 is under some form of correctional control, either on
probation or parole, or behind bars. This is the highest rate in the
nation. The national average is one in 31. About one adult in 70 is
behind bars in Georgia. The state spends more than $1 billion per
year on housing approximately 60,000 inmates."

Drug courts are part of the solution. The members of the Judicial
Council Standing Committee on Drug Courts and I look forward to
working with Georgia's legislative and executive branches during this
transition period to create more drug courts, improve our standards
and collect more information about drug court efficacy.