SWIFT JUSTICE IN DRUG CASES

Even those who view the American criminal justice system as imperfect
are likely to acknowledge that it remains better than all others. And
it is a system that can be improved, if its participants are willing
to look for ways to make it work better.

Fortunately, some officials in Etowah County are willing to do that,
to learn more about how they can combat particular offenses in a
variety of ways, including the way they structure court schedules.

Such is the case with Circuit Judge Allen Millican and Assistant
District Attorney Jimmie Harp's development of special drug dockets
for crystal methamphetamine cases.

The volume of crystal meth cases and some brutal crimes in Etowah
County linked to crystal meth led them to search for a new approach to
the cases. They attended a symposium sponsored by federal agencies and
heard from meth addicts, among others. The symposium convinced them
that getting these drug cases to court quickly could help prevent
subsequent crimes and hasten help for defendants addicted to drugs.

Frequently, defendants out on bond rack up other offenses while
awaiting trial. Quicker court dates give them less opportunity to do
so. Quicker court dates can get defendants in possession cases into
community corrections and treatment programs sooner, increasing the
chance that they can beat their drug addiction.

During the week of Sept. 8, Millican and his secretary worked with
Harp and defense attorneys to put together a drug docket. Defense
lawyers were informed up front that cases wouldn't be postponed and
117 of the 151 cases on the docket were disposed of that week.

For defendants who went into community corrections, they found
themselves facing random drug testing, wearing a monitor and getting
into a treatment program.

But simply speeding up the process, these defendants may have a better
chance at breaking the powerful addictions that can so often lead
people into offenses far more serious than drug possession.

The violent crimes that have occurred here in Etowah County and the
lives ruined by drug addiction are more than enough to make the
efforts Millican, Harp and other officers of the court have engaged in
worth trying.