DRUG COURT GRADUATION STIRS HOPES

Before three graduates of the Richmond Adult Drug Treatment Court received
congratulatory hugs and handshakes, they heard this parable from substance
abuse clinician Madeline Berry:

A farmer owned an old mule who fell into a well. The farmer heard the
mule's entreaties for help but decided neither the mule nor the well was
worth saving. So he began filling the well with dirt.

As each shovelful plopped on his back, the mule shook off the dirt and took
a step up. Fighting panic, the animal kept shaking off dirt and stepping
up. Eventually, he climbed out of the well.

"What seemed like it would bury him actually helped him, all because of the
way he handled his adversity," Berry said.

At the end of the fable, probation officer Mark Hairston looked at the
graduates seated on the stage at the Richmond Police Academy. "OK, you
three old mules," he cracked, as an auditorium of drug court participants
and family members burst into laughter.

Friday was a happy day for graduates Keith Cousins, Jefferson Lewis and
Antoine Robinson. Drug court advocates are working to prevent them from
being the last people to complete the program.

Richmond Adult Drug Court is a voluntary, court-supervised treatment
program for nonviolent felony offenders that seeks to point its
participants toward a drug-free lifestyle, enhanced job prospects and
self-sufficiency.

As I wrote a few weeks ago, the program is in peril. Since that column, the
General Assembly chose not to fund Richmond's drug court and similar
programs throughout the state.

Circuit Judge Margaret P. Spencer, who presides over the program, is
awaiting a decision from Gov. Mark R. Warner on whether he will restore
$2.7 million to the state budget to pay for juvenile and adult drug courts
throughout Virginia.

In the meantime, drug courts are pursuing other options, including private
money and local funding.

Spencer and others will meet with City Council at 3 p.m. today in City
Hall's second floor conference room.

The fate of the program hung over Friday's graduation ceremony but did not
cloud it.

The power of God, perseverance and second chances were recurring themes.

Fredericksburg Commonwealth's Attorney Charles S. Sharp lauded the
graduates for their achievement, but warned that they are about to embark
on the toughest leg of their journey.

Sharp is a convert to the drug court program. "I was initially opposed to
it," he said. But after watching the same repeat offenders pop in and out
of the system, he realized alternatives to incarceration were needed.

Richmond Police Maj. Daniel A. Goodall Sr. sent the graduates off with a
charge to be respectful and committed, to value self, to continue their
education and to control their destiny.

The graduates cradled their certificates like proud fathers holding
newborns. Which, in essence, they were.

"I had a few stumbles when I was in there," said Jefferson Lewis, 45, an
employee at Tyson Foods. "But I got up, brushed myself off and just kept
coming back. I finally came through."

"Anybody tell you drug court don't work, they're lying," he said. "It
works. I'm living proof."