JUDGE TEACHES HARD LESSONS TO STUDENT VISITORS

When a group of high school students visited Sebastian County
Circuit Court on Wednesday, Judge J. Michael Fitzhugh seized the
opportunity to expound about what happens to people who drop out of
school and get in trouble with the law.

He had plenty of examples to point out. During the morning session,
more than 75 people appeared for arraignments, pleas or trial
requests. A majority of them faced drug charges, which Fitzhugh
mentioned to his visitors after the session.

"When the charges are for something else, like robbery or theft,
it's almost always drug related," he told the group from Southside
High School. "They get involved with drugs, and then they go out and
steal to get money to buy more drugs."

Fitzhugh, who presides over Sebastian County's weekly Drug Court
program for nonviolent drug users, regularly asks defendants their
age and how far they got in school.

Middle-aged and older defendants, many with long criminal histories,
often say they finished only fourth or eighth grade, he said. If
they plead guilty or are found guilty in a hearing or trial,
Fitzhugh requires them to obtain a GED as part of their
sentence, regardless of their age.

At least seven defendants Wednesday said they were younger than 21,
and several were drop-outs.

In sentencing a 20-year-old man to five years suspended for a
reduced charge of conspiracy to possess cocaine, Fitzhugh told the
man that if he did anything "stupid" or failed to obtain his GED as
ordered, he could go to prison for 30 years.

An 18-year-old defendant, arraigned on charges of methamphetamine,
marijuana and drug paraphernalia possession, said he dropped out of
the 11th grade in Charleston because it "got tough."

"If you thought being in school was tough, how tough do you think
things are now?" Fitzhugh asked.

The judge set $100,000 bond for a 22-year-old arraigned on charges
including possession of methamphetamine with intent to deliver, a
Class Y felony punishable by 10 to 40 years or life in prison.

To him, Fitzhugh said, "That really does mean life. You enter in an
orange suit and you come out in a box."

In another case, a nurse charged with attempting to obtain a
controlled substance by fraud requested that she be placed in Drug
Court, where successful completion can end with an opportunity to
expunge her record and possibly regain her nursing
license. Fitzhugh told her the prosecutor's office would have
to decide whether to recommend that alternative.

After the session, Fitzhugh explained to the students that because
one of the defendants apparently threw a bag of cocaine into a car,
his four co-defendants face charges and penalties for "constructive
possession" based on the fact that they rode with him in the car.

"The same thing could happen to you if you're riding with a friend
and they have beer in the trunk. You could be charged as a minor in
possession of alcohol," he said.

A student asked him if someone could get in trouble because a
classmate brought drugs into a classroom. Fitzhugh said that was not likely.

During a recess, students and their faculty escorts -- sociology
teacher and track coach Steve Peeples and Brent Griffis, athletic
trainer and director of the Student Discipline Center -- visited the
holding cell where jail inmates wait for their turn in court. After
the session, Fitzhugh also suggested they pay a visit to the
Sebastian County Adult Detention Center.

"What they see and hear in the classroom is totally different from
what they see in court. People are actually charged with offenses,
or pleading guilty," Fitzhugh said in his chambers. "They come from
all walks of life, all ages, some 17 or 18 years old, the same as
these students. ... That nurse today stated essentially that she
lost everything."

The judge said that in addition to hosting occasional visits from
government or social-studies classes, he has gone to schools to give
talks. He also participates in a Criminal Law Education Program
every spring in which area fourth-graders tour the juvenile
detention center, the sheriff's office and the police station before
winding up in circuit court to observe proceedings and ask questions.

"One thing that we're going to try to do is take Drug Court to
school," he said. Fitzhugh said the ambitious plan will involve
holding a real Drug Court in a high school auditorium.