NCJ Number
177395
Date Published
1999
Length
46 pages
Annotation
An advisory panel convened at the invitation of the National Drug Court Institute in partnership with several other organizations examined the applicability of the drug court model to repeat offenders convicted of driving under the influence (DUI) and concluded that drug court hold promise for DUI offenders if several obstacles are overcome.
Abstract
The panel was formed due to information that despite the reduction in alcohol-related traffic fatalities, problem drinkers continue to kill people on the highways. The panel agreed that the typical multiple DUI offender shares some common characteristics and some differences with the typical drug offender participating in a drug court program today. The panel concluded that drug courts hold promise for DUI offenders, although offender characteristics and the realities of the law and circumstances clearly indicate a need to modify the drug court model for application to DUI cases. Obstacles that must be overcome to apply the drug court model to DUI cases include education and recruitment, funding, the perception that DUI/drug courts are soft on crime, the scope of the need, and the need to map and assess the existing DUI courts not patterned on the drug court model. Other obstacles include the need for a national strategy, and the common defense tactic of delaying adjudication in DUI cases. Appended profiles of the jurisdictions from which the advisory panel came; appended results of analyses of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats related to several topics; and 7 references