From "Treatment" to "Justice" in Oakland, California (From Early Drug Courts: Case Studies in Judicial Innovation, P 43-76, 1999, W. Clinton Terry, III, ed. -- See NCJ-179569)

• NCJ Number: 179570
• Author(s): Brooke Bedrick; Jerome H. Skolnick
• Date Published: 1999
• Length: 34 pages
• Sale Source: Sage Publications, Inc
• Publication Format: Book (Softbound)
• Publication Type: Program/Project Description
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This paper describes two drug courts in Oakland, California.

Abstract

Oakland, CA, is home to the Oakland-Piedmont-Emeryville Municipal Court drug court, inaugurated in January 1991, and the Alameda County Superior Court drug court, inaugurated in January 1995. Both courts target individuals charged with low-level drug felonies. The Municipal Court drug court handles those eligible for drug diversion, while the Superior Court drug court handles those ineligible for diversion because of a history of similar offenses, a history of violent behavior, or a history of failed drug diversion, among other criteria. The two drug courts were consolidated in January 1996 and an expedited drug court was organized in the 1980's. Oakland’s drug courts programs are increasingly concerned with the social costs of failed drug policies, especially the loss of generations of African Americans and other people of color to the criminal justice system. The programs increasingly aspire to increase participants’ literacy and educational level, increase job readiness, and increase the level of employment and income. Tables, notes, references