Pubdate: Sun, 21 Dec 2003
Source: Virginian-Pilot (VA)
Copyright: 2003, The Virginian-Pilot
Contact:  http://www.pilotonline.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/483
Author: Michelle Washington, The Virginian-Pilot

DRUG COURT IN NORFOLK: TOUGH SYSTEM SUCCEEDS WHERE JAIL FAILS

NORFOLK - The promise had been made many times.

Alice Rodgers Reese looked at her mother through jail glass and swore
that this time, when she got out, she would stay out.

Reese always meant it. Each time, she left jail determined to keep a
job and stay clean. Each time, the drugs brought her back. In 10 years
of heroin addiction, she returned to jail repeatedly for charges
ranging from theft to drug possession.

In the fall of 2002, in jail on a probation violation, Reese made the
promise to her mother again.

"It's not that she didn't have faith in me," Reese said. "But she had
heard that line too many times."

Last month, Reese faced her mother in court -- this time as an honors
graduate of the Norfolk drug court, a program designed to help people
overcome the addictions that drive them to crime.

"It feels good to sit in this seat," Reese said.

Norfolk's drug court officers celebrated five years in operation last
month, despite continuing struggles to keep funding. Circuit Judge
Junius P. Fulton III runs the court. It is a last resort for people
like Reese who rack up sometimes lengthy, but nonviolent, criminal
records in support of a drug habit and who have failed at other
intervention and treatment measures.

Before entering the program, participants are convicted of the
criminal charge they face. Any prison sentence is deferred. They then
undergo at least a year of rigorous drug treatment, attending
Narcotics Anonymous meetings and submitting to drug testing several
times each week.

Drug court probation officers and counselors report on participants'
progress. Those who fail to prove their employment or fail a drug
screen without first admitting a relapse are subject to sanctions,
including jail time. Too many sanctions lead to expulsion from the
program and imposition of the prison sentence.

Those who succeed move to higher levels of the program and,
eventually, to a drug-free life.

"Chemical dependency is about a lifestyle change," said Dawn Mejstrik,
a drug-court supervisor. "We're working to change how they live. What
better way to do that than to be actively involved?"

The program is considered so tough, Mejstrik said, that many people
eligible to participate decide "serving time is less hassle."

Court officials say 65 people have graduated since the program's
inception. Another 60 were cut. Even with a graduation rate of around
50 percent, officials say, the program is a success. "You have to put
it in perspective," Mejstrik said. "Norfolk drug court takes people
who have already failed probation.

Probation and treatment have a 50 percent success rate. We're taking
50 percent who already failed and winning half of them." Reese has
been clean for more than a year.

She earned honors in the program by never testing positive for drugs.
It was the first time she had gone through drug treatment, although
she had tried several times to stay clean while on probation. She
credits drug court with helping her do what she has always wanted -
make something of herself.

"If I stopped, I'd be back where I came from," she
said.

Other graduates have had similar success. Gary McKoy graduated in
2001. His crimes dated back to 1975 and he'd been in prison five
times. He was smoking crack and shooting heroin, he said, when he
prayed to God for a chance to go clean - it was easy in prison but too
hard on the street. Providence sent him to drug court, McKoy said, and
he hasn't used drugs since.

"It's like a whole place full of angels." McKoy now serves as a mentor
to other people in the program, returning to court each month even
though he is no longer required to do so. He has held the same job for
three years.

Virginia has 18 drug court programs, including courts in Portsmouth
and Newport News. More than 1,200 programs operate nationwide.

Advocates say drug courts help stop the cycle of addiction that leads
to crime, and help save taxpayers money by keeping those people out of
prison and jail. One study of Virginia's drug court programs cautions
that it's difficult to gauge their true savings. Norfolk drug-court
officials estimate the cost per participant at $3,000 a year, compared
with incarceration costs of $22,500 annually , according to a study.

Returning the drug offenders to a useful, working life brings other
societal benefits, Mejstrik said. The money they earn goes back into
the economy, and their example inspires others.

"These people pay taxes," she said. Still, the drug court has
struggled to maintain its funding the past couple years due to tight
budgets. In January, the program lost funding that paid for a
full-time administrator. Virginia Beach's nationally recognized
program ended in December 2002 because local officials could not raise
matching funds for a federal grant.

With more money, said Mejstrik and Fulton, more people could
participate in the court. Mejstrik said defense attorneys frequently
complain to her when a qualified candidate is denied admission. About
50 people can participate at one time, but many more
apply.Commonwealth's Attorney John R. Doyle III supports Norfolk's
drug court. His office provides a prosecutor to handle the docket - a
year-long assignment that is a valuable learning experience, he said.

"Those people have been saved just as if they were under the care of a
heart surgeon," Doyle told the graduates during their ceremony.

The court also keeps drug offenders from coming back to the criminal
justice system. According to the statewide study, one graduate of
Norfolk's drug court has committed a felony crime since completing the
program. Three have committed misdemeanors. That means drug court
graduates in Norfolk have about a 3 percent recidivism rate on
felonies and about 10 percent on misdemeanors.

Statewide, about 6 percent of graduates return to court for felonies
and about 10 percent for misdemeanors.

According to a study by the Virginia Criminal Sentencing Commission,
about 50 percent of drug offenders punished through more traditional
means, such as incarceration or probation, return to court on felony
charges.

On graduation day, the prosecutor who convicted Reese handed her a mug
shot from the day of her arrest. It shows a woman with wild hair and a
puffy face - far different from the put-together woman with a sleek
coiffure who has held a job at the Navy Lodge for the past year and
received raises for her work.

All graduates get a mug shot to remind them how far they have
come.

Reese has looked at hers every day since graduation.

"If I think about using, I look at this," she said. "No way in the
world."
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