Pubdate: Fri, 02 Feb 2001 Source: Providence Journal, The (RI) Copyright: 2001 The Providence Journal Company Contact: 75 Fountain St., Providence RI 02902 Website: http://www.projo.com/ Author: Jonathan D. Rockoff, Journal Staff Writer REHABILITATION OVER PUNISHMENT GOAL OF ADULT DRUG COURT Rehabilitation Over Punishment Goal Of Adult Drug Court But Some Will Be Troubled That The Judicial Process By Which Some Offenders Will Be Offer Treatment Rather Than Jail Time Will Not Be Open To The Public. PROVIDENCE -- An innovative effort to divert drug users from a life of crime kicked off this week when the Superior Court launched a drug court. The Adult Drug Court sends drug users caught in minor, nonviolent crimes to treatment, rather than prison. The goal is to cure users of their addictions so they do not resort to shoplifting, robbery and other crimes to support their drug habits. A probation officer will work with treatment facilities to monitor the participants' progress, help them find jobs and address other problems. Users who successfully complete treatment find their criminal charges dropped. But users who fail treatment get sentenced. Rhode Island's judiciary is the latest system to adopt this carrot-and-stick approach, which has proliferated nationally. Open-government advocates in the state may have a problem: drug court proceedings and information about participants are closed to the public. Yet the court officials, state prosecutors, lawyers and health officials who established the program see great promise for reducing crime. "Really for the first time, we're trying to address the root of the problem," said Asst. Atty. Gen. William R. Guglietta, who helped organize the court. On Wednesday, Superior Court Judge Edward C. Clifton, who presides over the drug court, heard its first case. Clifton sent a homeless person, arrested recently in Providence on a charge of cocaine possession, to a residential drug-treatment program. The person will have to be there for at least two weeks, if not longer. Then, the person may have to get out-patient treatment. The person's performance will be monitored. For example, the person will have to take drug tests regularly. And periodically, the person will have to appear in court so the judge, prosecutor, public defender and a probation official can review the case. In the end, if the person successfully completes treatment, then the felony cocaine-possession charge is dismissed. If the person fails the program, however, then the person will be sentenced as if sent through the normal court process. "It seems to make so much sense and seems to be so effective elsewhere I'm almost embarrassed we haven't had it," said Kerry O'Neill, chief of treatment services at the state Department of Mental Health and Retardation. The court results from a collaboration of that department, the probation department, the Superior Court and the offices of the attorney general and public defender. Lawyers and public defenders will refer clients to the attorney general's office, which will decide whether to place people in the court. Organizers expect the addicts' road to recovery will be bumpy, with relapses along the way. They don't expect everyone to graduate. And they envision a slow start, with the court handling few cases this year as the kinks are worked out. The court will probably convene once a week. A more serious obstacle to the court's development, organizers said, is money. Guglietta expects the court to cost $500,000 a year. This year, various agencies are relying on a federal grant and using existing staff. Organizers hope to obtain financing from the state legislature. They are also soliciting private foundations. "My concern is that it will hopefully have funding for the treatment," said Assistant Public Defender David Cannon. "Without good follow-through and the availability of beds, it's not going to work." Like the other organizers, Cannon championed the court as not only benefitting drug addicts but all Rhode Islanders preyed upon by addicts seeking money. They also said it is cheaper to treat than to incarcerate. Defense lawyers also support the court because it offers their clients a way out of their destructive habits and a chance to get charges dismissed. "The problem is there are so many repeat offenders out there, you could put in 40 a day," said Edward C. Roy, president of the Rhode Island Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. At the heart of the drug-court idea is a criticism of efforts to stop the flow of drugs into the United States. Saying such interdiction was failing, drug professionals urged reducing the demand for drugs by treating addicts. First established in 1989, drug courts have flourished since 1993, when the Clinton administration increased federal funding. Now there are more than 450 drug courts nationwide, said Elizabeth Piper Deschenes, author of The Early Drug Court . David W. Murray, director of the Statistical Assessment Service, a nonprofit organization in Washington, D.C., said the courts reduce recidivism rates. Murray said various studies show that drug-court graduates later go to jail just 20 percent to 30 percent of the time. He said drug offenders who go through the normal court process and are sent to jail, on the other hand, return to jail nearly 70 percent of the time. But Murray said the keys to the court's success are sufficient resources to treat people and close monitoring of participants' progress. In late 1999, the Family Court opened a drug court for juveniles. In 2000, that court enrolled 57 participants, according to the most recent statistics. Eight have successfully completed the program and 43 are receiving treatment. The rest withdrew or were forced to leave. The drug-court idea has its opponents -- and not only among strong law-and-order advocates who prefer punishment to treatment. Members of the drug-policy reform movement, which favors the legalization of drugs, oppose government treatment and the government's access to confidential medical records. They also oppose channeling social-service money through the criminal-justice system. "More and more of the money is going into and through the criminal-justice system whereas the resources for the treatment community are dwindling," said Ethan Nadelman, executive director of The Lindesmith Center-Drug Policy Foundation, in New York City. - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D