NCJ Number
207482
Date Published
March 2003
Length
13 pages
Annotation
This paper examines changes in the judge's role in drug courts in Delaware, which involves managing the sentences of substance-abusing offenders.
Abstract
The paper first provides a brief history of the evolution of American judges' more active involvement in the management and modification of imposed sentences. Sentence modifications could include additional conditions, sanctions, and rewards following imposition of the initial sentence. The paper then turns to the Delaware experience under this evolution of the judicial role. Delaware law mandates that the sentencing judge devise a sentencing plan that includes several levels of supervision. The judge then retains control over the modification of the custody levels. This has produced more court hearings, both to consider offender violations, modify sentences, and change supervision conditions. Next, the paper discusses the active role judges have played in addressing the prevalence of drug abuse among offenders. The model adopted in Delaware is the reentry drug court, which involves combining the drug court model with a case-management infrastructure that focuses on client-centered services, including screening, assessment, treatment planning, referring clients to substance abuse treatment and other services, monitoring client progress, and facilitating communication between justice and treatment staff. The reentry drug court judge monitors client response under the case-management plan by addressing serious violations with sanctions and rewarding positive behaviors by reducing restrictions. In the 3 years of the court's operation, recidivism has been reduced by just over 10 percent. 1 figure