A SECOND CHANCE FOR THUNDERBOLT DRUG OFFENDERS

Thunderbolt's drug court, one of 19 in Georgia, gives offenders an
alternative to jail and a chance to shed their habits.

In August, Thunderbolt Court Administrator Pat Flynn talked about
18-year-old Michael Galitello as his "shining star."

That's because the teen, in and out of jail three times since March,
finally seemed on the right path.

Galitello was the first defendant sentenced in Thunderbolt's drug court,
which officials hope will keep minor offenders from becoming career criminals.

It's the first municipal drug court program in Georgia among a growing
number of drug courts nationwide.

It's too early to tell if Thunderbolt's effort is working, but program
administrators hope flexibility and patience will pay off.

For months, officials did nothing but extend second chances to their
initial defendant.

On his first charge of possessing a marijuana joint, Galitello skipped his
community service -- cleaning the Thunderbolt museum -- and spent 10 days
in jail.

Shortly after his release, Galitello was busted for underage drinking, and
he spent another 10 days in jail.

By the time he got arrested joyriding with friends -- Flynn and Judge
Willie Yancey had had enough. They sent him to a 28-day rehab program.
Still, he wound up behind bars, this time for not reporting to counseling.

Since late June, however, Galitello has met the terms of his probation.

In state court, he would have faced two years in prison.

Thunderbolt Judge Kevin Street hopes Galitello's second chances will one
day get him an education and a job.

"Michael earned the breaks that have been extended to him," Street said.
"Michael has not been a success at a lot of things, but he's succeeding now."

The idea for Thunderbolt's drug court came when town officials sought a
different way to handle a yearly load of about 300 criminal cases.

Georgia's Administrative Office of the Courts granted Flynn's request for
start-up money with a $10,000 grant.

"The hope is by providing them with education, counseling and treatment,
that they will no longer be involved in the criminal justice system," said
James Banks, drug-court coordinator for the state administrative office.

There are already 19 drug courts in state, superior and municipal courts in
Georgia, and another eight jurisdictions are considering them, Banks said.

With a population of about 2,340, Thunderbolt has 40 people enrolled in its
program. In the months since it started, 10 have left the drug court --
either through their own volition or by getting kicked out.

One reason Thunderbolt officials are excited about the program is that
cases are handled relatively quickly.

If a Thunderbolt case gets passed to Chatham County State Court, it could
take months before it's heard. If the case gets sent to Thunderbolt's Drug
Court, it will be heard within two weeks.

Flynn believes that quicker turn-around -- which means quicker help or
quicker consequences -- will make his program successful.

"It's an immediate response to an immediate need," Flynn said.

Thunderbolt Town Council has been supportive of the new drug court, which
is costing between $35,000 and $40,000 a year.

One reason for that support is that municipal tax dollars are not being
used to fund it. Instead, the money comes from the fees assessed to defendants.

"For a city this size, I think we're doing a remarkable job," said
Councilman John McKenna.

Besides intensive supervision, which can include home electronic
monitoring, the drug court also sends those who need it into an immediate
drug-treatment program, including an in-patient, 28-day program if needed.

A drug and alcohol counselor sits in on court -- held every second and
fourth Tuesday -- and meets immediately with new defendants to set up their
evaluations.

Unlike the drug court in Chatham County Superior Court, which is funded at
$253,000 for this year, Thunderbolt's program, which started in March, does
not take any hard-core drug users, Flynn said. People enrolled in the
program range in age from teen-agers to a 60-year-old, and in profession
from students to a chemical engineer to a man with a master's degree in
education.

Anyone charged in Thunderbolt with a drug possession or DUI charge
automatically ends up in the new program.

Wendy Johnson, 26, is one of those who got stopped for driving under the
influence.

That day in March, she remembers, she had 2 glasses of wine, but she
hadn't eaten all day.

Johnson was angry when she got arrested and embarrassed when she went to court.

But a few months into the program, she's past those feelings.

She says the court has helped bring her and her family closer together, and
though she lost her job because of her arrest, she believes she will now
find better work.

Although she'll remain on probation for a year, she already completed her
substance abuse early intervention program.

Johnson figures with all of the court costs, fines and fees associated with
the arrest, each drink cost her about $2,000.

Despite the money and time lost in courtroom visits, Johnson says she now
looks forward to her twice-monthly visits to the Thunderbolt town hall.

"You feel good when you tell (the judge) the good things that have happened
to you," Johnson said. "You walk out feeling good about yourself."

Like other probation programs, Thunderbolt's drug court uses home
electronic monitoring -- at a cost of $8 per day.

It also uses the Visatel sensor, a video monitor attached to a type of
breathalyzer. The defendant breathes into the machine, which measures
alcohol content, and at the same time transmits an image of the person to
the monitoring company in Texas. If the person tests positive for alcohol,
Thunderbolt officials are notified.

That machine costs defendants $15 per day, and if they are put on it, they
usually stay on it for 30 days.

Thunderbolt has eight such monitors available for use by drug court
participants, Flynn said.

"It beats going to jail," he said.

In comparison, if Thunderbolt sends a defendant to jail, the cost is $30
per day, which cost could be put on the defendant.

Besides paying fines and fees, participants in the drug court program often
are assigned to community service. In addition to cleaning city streets,
probationers have painted the new Thunderbolt museum, completed its
landscaping and built fences for it.

Once the court program -- usually 12 months -- is completed, the judge can
reconsider the sentence, and may choose to reduce the charge.

Drug courts have been around for more than five years, said Don Josi, an
associate professor in criminal justice at Armstrong Atlantic State
University, and they've had mixed results -- and reviews.

"If you're a liberal, you love them. If you're conservative, you hate them."

By locking drug addicts up, Josi said, communities are not solving the problem.

"The idea of incarcerating someone for drug abuse or alcohol abuse is
almost ludicrous," Josi said. "They go in an addict, they come out an addict."

While treatment for the substance problem is essential, drug court programs
don't always work. They tend to work best with adults in their 30s who want
to change their lifestyles, he said.

"Any program set up for younger ones is going to fail, not because the
program's a failure or the idea's a failure, but because the younger ones
still enjoy it," Josi said.

That doesn't mean younger people shouldn't be included in the program, he
said. But it does mean that it might take youthful offenders a few tries
before it works.

It nearly took Michael Galitello more than one.

At a recent Tuesday court session, about a month after he was called "a
shining star," the 18-year-old almost ended up back in jail.

When Judge Willie Yancey called Galitello to the informal table at the
front of the Thunderbolt courtroom, they chatted happily. Galitello told
the judge that he no longer was working, but was going to school to get his
GED.

But just as soon as he had said it, Flynn said that wasn't true. He had
talked to the school, and while Galitello had filled out an enrollment
form, he had never shown up for a class.

"You need to come up with an answer to that," Yancey told him.

Galitello consulted with his court-appointed attorney and returned to the
table. He told the judge he had gone to the school twice the week before,
but not that week. He admitted he wasn't attending regularly.

Instead of sending Galitello back to jail, Flynn made an unusual
recommendation.

He wanted him to show up at Thunderbolt City Hall and spend three hours
each day getting tutored. Galitello was ordered to be there at 9 a.m. the
following day.

"We're not afraid to put anyone in jail, but there are alternatives," Flynn
said.

Street, the chief judge in Thunderbolt, said what sets the drug court apart
from other programs is the level of concern shown to the offenders and
their level of involvement.

"The success with drug court is we put the keys to the jail in their hands."

The program

35 people are enrolled in Thunderbolt's drug court.

In 1995, 224 people were arrested in Thunderbolt, including:

* 114 for misdemeanors

* 89 for Driving Under the Influence

* 14 for drugs

* 7 for felonies

In 2001, there were 269 arrests made in Thunderbolt. They included:

* 124 for misdemeanors

* 63 for DUI

* 49 for drugs

* 33 for felonies

In Georgia, there are currently 19 drug courts, as well as eight
jurisdictions looking into creating one.

There are adult/felony drug courts in:

* Bibb County Superior Court

* Chatham County Superior Court

* Dekalb County Superior Court

* Fulton County Superior Court

* Glynn/Camden County Superior Court

* Hall County Superior Court

* Jasper County Superior Court

* Laurens County Superior Court

* White County Superior Court

* Whitfield County Superior Court

There are adult/misdemeanor drug courts in:

* Athens Clarke County State Court

* Carroll County Superior Court

* City of Thunderbolt Municipal Court

The juvenile drug courts include:

* Bibb County Juvenile Court

* Camden County Juvenile Court

* Laurens County Juvenile Court

* Muscogee County Juvenile Court

* Newton County Juvenile Court

Source: Georgia Administrative Office of the Courts