DRUG COURTS SHOULD BE ONLY PART OF JUSTICE REFORM

New Panel to Overhaul State'S Corrections Policy

Standing, symbolically, in the Hall County drug court his son
operates, Gov. Nathan Deal signed into law late last month a bill that
could change the face of criminal justice in Georgia. House Bill 265 --
which found overwhelming support on both sides of the aisle, and in
both chambers -- creates a 13-member panel to study and propose
improvements to the state's corrections system.

Composed of gubernatorial appointees, House members, and judges or
their appointees, the Special Council on Criminal Justice has been
tasked with a noble if overly ambitious mission: to find methods to
shift the state's focus to rehabilitation rather than simply
retribution, decrease the number of nonviolent offenders who are
locked up each year -- repeat offenders, in particular -- and, in turn,
curb the prison system's increasingly unsustainable financial burden
on taxpayers.

Approving the formation of a panel was an important move, but it's
just a first step. The council must come up with real, common sense
reforms. Ultimately, though, it'll be up to the Legislature to
implement change. With more than 60,000 prisoners currently behind
bars in Georgia, an overwhelming number of whom will likely be sent
back upon release for similar offenses or parole violations, neither
the council nor lawmakers can afford to drop the ball.

So far, the most talked about solution to the state's criminal justice
conundrum -- too many offenders, too many re-offenders and not enough
money to incarcerate them -- has been increasing the use of front-end
diversionary programs such as drug and mental health courts. Rather
than sentencing low-level criminals who are addicted to drugs or those
who are mentally ill to time behind bars, alternative courts can
divert them to treatment programs in hopes of eradicating the root of
their criminal behavior. Deal's son operates the drug court in Hall
County and the governor's made no secret of his allegiance to the program.

While drug courts have been shown to reduce recidivism, they shouldn't
be treated as a cure-all. There are already about 30 drug courts
operating in counties throughout the state -- including Fulton, DeKalb,
Gwinnett and Cobb -- as well as a slew of DUI and mental health courts.
But problems have persisted.

Most recently, South Georgia drug courts came under scrutiny when the
judge who oversees the program in Glynn, Camden and Wayne counties was
the subject of an episode of the public radio program "This American
Life" entitled "Very Tough Love." Judge Amanda Williams, the woman in
charge of one of Georgia's largest drug court operations, was
criticized for imposing harsh sanctions and indefinite sentences, and
for using unorthodox methods to recruit people into the program. Host
Ira Glass concluded that Williams operated her court in ways that
"violate the basic philosophy of drug courts."

According to a South Georgia attorney who's represented clients in the
program, the problem is that in the current system, drug court judges
have almost unlimited, unchecked power, although a recent article in
the Florida Times-Union says Williams is currently being investigated
by an oversight body called the Judicial Qualification Commission.
(Williams' lawyers have said she's moving forward with legal action
against Glass for libel.)

Gov. Deal has said he hopes the commission will "uncover new
approaches to make Georgia communities safer while increasing offender
accountability." Diverting more people to drug court is a start, but
the commission should keep looking for new solutions.