Drug Court Case Study

Drug courts, initially propelled in Florida in 1989, are an arrangement of escalated treatment and supervision. The thought is to treat the instances of peaceful substance-mishandling guilty parties uniquely in contrast to other criminal cases in light of the fact that the dependence is at the base of the criminal action. Accentuation is on recovery instead of discipline.

The Drug Treatment Alternative-to-Prison Program is another attempt to provide better treatment for people who are convicted. The study showed that drug offenders who underwent a treatment program outside of prison had a 26 percent less rate of re-arrest after two years than a control group that was sent to prison (Justice Policy Institute, 2010). Rehabilitative programs like the Second Chance Act and the Drug Treatment Alternative-to-Prison Program has shown to growth and positive

A number of measures have been introduced which focus on addressing the factors underlying the commission of drug-related offences (ie PDDP, IDCD) which ultimately provides for early interventions prior to the formation of entrenched attitudes. Another measure is a bail based diversion program where, in the pre-sentencing stage, the offender is referred for treatment for their drug dependency. Some of the most common drug offences are for possession, use and supply of prohibited drugs. Each drug offence has specific legal 'elements ', which the prosecution must prove beyond reasonable

Beginning research looked at how many times an individual was arrested after completing the program, how much time passed before being arrested, and how much jail time an individual previously had as indicators of reoffending (Burns et al., 2013). Belenko (2001) is often credited as the pioneer for critically analyzing drug courts’ efficacy in which the author found that drug courts reduce recidivism and save money. However, DeMatteo et al. (2013) claims that because there are so many variations between specialty courts, obtaining accurate data is difficult. Inaccurate measures led Palermo (2010) to research how the amount of arrests prior to entering the specialty court program and the number of arrests after exiting program determined the

The government and administrators of prisons and treatment centers are trying to lower the cost of incarceration and treatment centers. Treatment centers are the more expensive option but it last longer and has more permanent effects in low level drug criminals. The family and individual want the easiest option that helps them or their children to treat their addiction. They want to use treatment centers to treat the addiction to prevent them crime again. The effectiveness of prisons and treatment centers vary.

(Wormer, Persson, 2010). This program would save the communities a lot of money and help out the families of the person who is in trouble. Not all people who commit drug related crimes would qualify but people who would be facing long prison time. This would be for first time offenders who have not committed violent crimes. They would get treatments such as cognitive behavior therapy, drug treatments and be under the very intense supervision of the drug court.

Only 18.3% (337,882) were for the sale or manufacture of a drug” (p. 23). Therefore, the individuals who are likely to enter the already overcrowded prisons may be users and the actual not distributors themselves. Thus, prison space that is intended to be reserved for murders and sexual predators is instead being occupied by substance

This leads to the question of whether the justice system is doing an adequate job of dealing with drug addiction. Instead of incarcerating people for drug abuse, an alternative is treating victims by rehab and treatment. This paper will exam why treatment is the superior option for

A national assessment of 29 drug courts found that some these tribunals altogether diminish drug backslide and criminal conduct, both elements that improve the probability of imprisonment (Rossman, 2011). Research demonstrates that drug court members were necessarily more improbable than the examination gatherings to report utilizing illegal drugs (56% versus 76%) and had fundamentally less useful biomarker tests for drug use (29% versus 46%) at 18-month preliminary. Drug court members were likewise altogether more averse to report perpetrating violations (40% versus 53%). A meta-analysis of 18 essentially semi-exploratory investigations of psychological well-being court 's demonstrated that emotional wellness court members additionally would be wise to criminal equity results than comparative correlation bunches (Journal of Criminal Justice, 2011). Be that as it may, emotional well-being courts have for the most part not been compelling at enhancing psychological wellness results—and poor mental well-being results may add to inevitable detainment (Law and Human Behavior, 2011).

Over the past 40 years U.S. incarceration has grown at an extraordinary rate, with the United States’ prison population increasing from 320,000 inmates in 1980 to nearly 2.3 million inmates in 2013. The growth in prison population is in part due to society’s shift toward tough on crime policies including determinate sentencing, truth-in-sentencing laws, and mandatory minimums. These tough on crime policies resulted in more individuals committing less serious crimes being sentenced to serve time and longer prison sentences. The 1970s-1980s: The War on Drugs and Changes in Sentencing Policy Incarceration rates did rise above 140 persons imprisoned per 100,000 of the population until the mid 1970s.

With the economy in the turmoil that it is in America cannot continue to support these sentencing guidelines. The Mandatory Article Sentencing declares that the laws are becoming a huge drain on the Justice Bureau’s budget, and in 2012 the United States had far beyond more people incarcerated than any other country. Most of these prisoners are low-level drug offenders sentenced under mandatory sentencing guidelines with a cost draining on American taxpayers $6.8 billion a year, as of 2012. These costs do not seem to have a ceiling and continue eating up about twenty-five percent of the federal justice system’s yearly budget.

On April 20 of this year I attended the drug court which is located in the Erie County Courthouse. The Drug Court is intended to promote healthy and law-abiding behavior for its participants. It acts as an alternative for jail and an individual is free to live in the community as long he or she participates in all services, along with being subject to random drug testing.

Another specialized court that a community might benefit from establishing is a mental health court. The aim of mental health courts is to connect people with mental illness, that display deviant behavior, to mental health resources and social services that can better deal with cases such as these as an option for individuals who need to be treated more than they need to be imprisoned (A Promising Alternative, 2011). One good reason to creating drug and mental health courts in a community is their goal to problem solve rather than just push defendants through the conveyor belt or revolving door

More people get incarcerated for non-violent crimes and crimes caused by mental illnesses or drug abuse (Webb, 2009) and because these people get put in regular prisons, instead of in mental health facilities or facilities to help against drug addiction, where they could be treated to further prevent crimes driven by their illness (Webb, 2009), the prisons get overfilled and cannot hold the more ‘important’ prisoners that needed to be locked away from the public. A strong link of the criminal justice process is that the system tries to keep it fair for everyone. Every defendant has the right to an attorney so they can be defended properly and fairly and “Only judges who are adequately informed about a case can effectively control the proceedings and examine evidence” (Tochilovsky, 2002) It is also important for the criminal justice system that those involved show discretion and although this is not always the case, discretion by the judges, police, etc.

Many of the prisoners are incarnated for petty drug charges or unfair sentencing as a consequence the prisons is overpopulated and causes confusion. The Three Strikes and you’re out policy will have the