Pubdate: Tue, 02 Dec 2003 Source: Gadsden Times, The (AL) Copyright: 2003 The Gadsden Times Contact: http://www.gadsdentimes.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1203 Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/opinion.htm (Opinion) SWIFT JUSTICE IN DRUG CASES Even those who view the American criminal justice system as imperfect are likely to acknowledge that it remains better than all others. And it is a system that can be improved, if its participants are willing to look for ways to make it work better. Fortunately, some officials in Etowah County are willing to do that, to learn more about how they can combat particular offenses in a variety of ways, including the way they structure court schedules. Such is the case with Circuit Judge Allen Millican and Assistant District Attorney Jimmie Harp's development of special drug dockets for crystal methamphetamine cases. The volume of crystal meth cases and some brutal crimes in Etowah County linked to crystal meth led them to search for a new approach to the cases. They attended a symposium sponsored by federal agencies and heard from meth addicts, among others. The symposium convinced them that getting these drug cases to court quickly could help prevent subsequent crimes and hasten help for defendants addicted to drugs. Frequently, defendants out on bond rack up other offenses while awaiting trial. Quicker court dates give them less opportunity to do so. Quicker court dates can get defendants in possession cases into community corrections and treatment programs sooner, increasing the chance that they can beat their drug addiction. During the week of Sept. 8, Millican and his secretary worked with Harp and defense attorneys to put together a drug docket. Defense lawyers were informed up front that cases wouldn't be postponed and 117 of the 151 cases on the docket were disposed of that week. For defendants who went into community corrections, they found themselves facing random drug testing, wearing a monitor and getting into a treatment program. But simply speeding up the process, these defendants may have a better chance at breaking the powerful addictions that can so often lead people into offenses far more serious than drug possession. The violent crimes that have occurred here in Etowah County and the lives ruined by drug addiction are more than enough to make the efforts Millican, Harp and other officers of the court have engaged in worth trying. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake