NCJ Number
157002
Journal
Judges' Journal Volume: 34 Issue: 3 Dated: (Summer 1995) Pages: 10-14,46- 47
Date Published
1995
Length
7 pages
Annotation
This paper describes three of the earliest drug courts, their operations, their effectiveness, and the criminal justice cost-savings they have provided.
Abstract
In contrast to earlier diversion programs, the drug courts divert arrestees into drug treatment programs immediately and maintain a high degree of oversight. Thirty jurisdictions have established these courts; up to 100 more jurisdictions are in various stages of setting one up. The three model drug courts are in Miami, Fla., Portland, Ore., and Oakland, Calif. They differ in a number of ways, partly because of different program philosophies and partly because of local circumstances. However, all three include policies and procedures that ensure immediate diversion and intensive supervision. The programs have all demonstrated the effectiveness of an approach that reduces prison or jail overcrowding while restoring drug abusers to productive lifestyles. They provide what one judge has called smart punishment, based on an acknowledgment of the realities of drug abuse. 9 references