BUDGET DENIES DRUG COURT GROWTH

Some have criticized Gov. James E. McGreevey's state budget cuts as an
injustice, but that might literally be true for defendants charged with
drug offenses in Atlantic, Cape May and other counties.

The proposed $23.7 billion budget contains no funding for statewide
expansion of a drug court program. In drug courts, cooperation and
treatment for nonviolent drug offenders replace adversarial courtroom
proceedings.

The program was to be made available in all 21 New Jersey counties by July
1. Drug courts, touted as a successful alternative to throwing drug users
into prison, operate in Cumberland and Ocean counties.

But the budget, which is $5 billion in the red, contains no money to start
drug courts in Atlantic, Cape May, Burlington and five other counties. An
addict caught with heroin in Ocean County might receive treatment and
undergo intensive supervision by the court. But someone charged with the
same crime in Atlantic City would face prison.

Attorneys, civil libertarians and even top court officials are worried the
budget crisis could result in New Jersey violating individuals' rights to
equal treatment under the law. The 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
guarantees such protection.

"There has been some discussion within the judiciary that this may raise
equal-protection arguments," said Theodore Housel, a defense attorney based
in Atlantic County.

"Drug-addicted defendants in other counties (may) participate in a drug
court system and be rehabilitated," he said. "People in this county are not
afforded that option by happenstance of geography."

In April, state courts administrator Richard J. Williams told legislative
committees the court was "very concerned about the fairness" of not
extending the drug court program.

Williams, former assignment judge in the Atlantic-Cape May court district,
proposed a compromise. He asked the Legislature to add $2 million to the
judiciary's $502 million budget to launch drug courts in the remaining
counties by April 2004.

Legislators will develop a final budget, which takes effect July 1.

Assembly Budget Committee member Frank Blee, R-Atlantic, strongly supports
the drug court program; he co-sponsored a law to extend the program
statewide. However, he is not optimistic about finding the funding for it.

"I'm extremely disappointed. I'm a big supporter of drug courts," Blee
said. "But it's a tough budget."

Over the past 10 years, many states have adopted "collaborative justice"
programs as a creative solution to drug addiction. More than 830 drug
courts operate across the nation.

Typically, the judge leads a team of lawyers, probation officers and
drug-treatment professionals who help the user end their drug addiction.
They seek a balance between supporting and encouraging the offender and
providing intensive supervision. The court selects nonviolent participants
who are likely to respond to treatment.

Those who do not follow treatment or the rigorous monitoring can be sent
back to criminal court.

Evidence is growing that the program works.

Drug use and criminal behavior substantially drop among drug court
participants, and 75 percent get jobs after graduating from the program.
Nationwide, more than 1,000 babies of formerly addicted mothers were born
drug-free, and 3,500 parents regained child custody. It costs about half as
much to fund treatment and supervision through a drug court than it does to
keep someone in prison.

"That's an awfully big savings, plus you take someone who would be
occupying a prison bunk and keep them from re-offending and relapsing,"
said Ed Martone of the New Jersey Association on Correction, a prisoner
advocacy group.

In New Jersey, where more than a third of state inmates are in prison for
drug offenses, a federally funded pilot program introduced drug courts in
Camden and Passaic counties in 1997. As of last year, drug courts operated
in 13 of 21 New Jersey counties. About 1,500 are enrolled in the program
statewide.

Martone is not convinced the state would violate equal-protection rights by
not extending drug courts for a year or two. He noted that certain prisons
offer education programs that help inmates get out of prison early, but
others do not.

But he said it makes sense from budgetary and policy perspectives for the
state to fund drug court expansion statewide.

"It's a less expensive program that gets better results," Martone said. "So
why not figure out a way to do it?"

Blee agreed the $2 million needed to get drug courts started in the
remaining counties is a good investment.

"That $2 million up front may be worth $10 million in the long haul," the
assemblyman said.