Pubdate: Sun, 17 Dec 2006
Source: Poughkeepsie Journal (NY)
Copyright: 2006 Poughkeepsie Journal
Contact: http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/news/forms/letter_form.htm
Website: http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1224
Author: Larry Fisher-Hertz

A CHANCE FOR CHANGE

Drug Courts Offer Addicts a Hard but Hopeful Way Out

Yolanda Knox was 15 when she tried marijuana. Ten years  later, she 
discovered crack cocaine.

Her addictions led to a life of stealing and drug  dealing -- and a 
stretch in state prison.

"The money was good," the 41-year-old Kingston woman  said recently, 
"but I was my own best customer. There  weren't too many days I 
wasn't high or committing  crimes."

Two years ago, Knox was caught forging her sister's  name on a 
fingerprint card after she was arrested for  drug possession. The 
charge was her second felony -- an  almost certain ticket back to 
prison for a woman who  had four grandchildren.

Then Kingston City Court Judge Edward T. Feeney  intervened. With an 
OK from Ulster County District  Attorney Donald Williams, the judge 
invited Knox to  enroll in Ulster County Drug Treatment Court.

"I'd heard people say Judge Feeney was willing to give  anyone a 
chance if you promised you'd give yourself a  chance," Knox said. "And he did."

Instead of going to prison, Knox agreed to adhere to a  set of rules 
to get clean and sober. Those rules  included entering a drug 
treatment program, finding and  holding on to an honest job and 
finding a place to live  away from her friends and associates in the 
Kingston  drug world.

The rules also included showing up regularly in  Feeney's courtroom 
to report on her progress.

Knox credits Feeney and the rest of the Ulster County  Drug Treatment 
Court team -- prosecutors, defense  attorneys, probation officers and 
coordinator Melissa  Ortquist -- with helping her kick a habit that 
had  plagued her for more than 20 years. She said her own  family 
played a key role too.

"My daughter told me, 'Ma, you're all I have and all my  own daughter 
has,' " she said. "I promised her I'd make  drug court work. That was 
April 28, 2005, and the next  day I stopped using drugs for good."

Two months ago, Knox "graduated" from drug court. One  benefit: the 
felony charge against her was expunged.  Knox said the program, 
launched in New York state seven  years ago, had also saved her life.

"No doubt, without it, I'd be dead right now," she said.

Knox is not alone. Since 1999, nearly 13,000 addicts --  including 
117 from Dutchess and Ulster counties -- have  completed drug 
treatment court. Experts say for those  who are honestly ready to 
fight their addictions, drug  courts might be the best shot.

"It's the best available program for people who are  truly seeking to 
recover," said John Clarke, a Dutchess  County assistant public 
defender who represented  clients in Beacon drug court for two years.

State and national studies on drug courts'  effectiveness appear to 
confirm Clarke's assessment.  The New York Center for Court 
Innovation found those  who attended drug courts were 29 percent less 
likely to commit new crimes. For those who graduated from 
drug  court, the figure was 70 percent.

A nationwide study last year by the Government  Accountability Office 
confirmed those numbers,  according to Frank Jordan, executive 
assistant to state  Deputy Chief Administrative Judge Judy Kluger.

Judge: This isn't Burger King

A local judge who has run a drug court for the past 3  1/2 years said 
he wasn't surprised.

"I tell everybody in drug court, 'This isn't Burger  King: You don't 
get it your way,' " Beacon City Court  Judge Timothy Pagones said. 
"It's not the easy way, but  it's the best way."

What sets drug court apart from traditional criminal  proceedings, 
Pagones said, is the informal atmosphere  in the courtroom that 
enables him and other members of  the team to really learn about 
their clients' lives.

"You get to know them -- and their families -- in ways  you never do 
in other courts," he said.

Often, he said, getting the families involved can make  all the difference.

"One time, a woman told me she was all done with drug  court -- she 
wanted to quit," Pagones said. "But her  daughter was with her that 
day, and she stood up and  said, 'You know what, Mom? If you quit, 
you'll never  see your grandchildren again.'

"The woman stayed in the program, and she graduated,"  the judge 
said. "That incident told me what drug court  was all about."

Pagones said he often sees drug court graduates -- and  some drug 
court dropouts -- in the community, and he  greets them as old friends.

"I might be filling my car with gas at the Mobil  station on Main 
Street and I'll have a guy come up to  me and say, 'Remember me?' I 
say, 'Yeah, if I took you  down to court right now for a drug test, 
how would you  do?' and they laugh.

"Many of them thank me for saving their lives, and it  doesn't get 
much better than that," Pagones said. "Even  for those who fail drug 
court, we like to think we've  given them some tools so when they're 
ready to try  again, they have a better chance of making it."

No cakewalk, this

If there is general agreement drug court is effective,  almost 
everyone also agrees it's rarely an easy way out  for addicts. 
Poughkeepsie resident Strates Demakos said  graduating from 
Poughkeepsie Drug Treatment Court was  the best -- and possibly the 
most difficult -- thing  he'd ever done.

"I started smoking marijuana at 14, and I was hanging  out in bars by 
the time I was 16," said Demakos, 44.  "It wasn't much longer before 
I found cocaine, and by  the time I started using intravenously, it 
was all  downhill from there."

Demakos said he held down a series of good-paying jobs  during his 
addiction, "but it was never enough," so he  sold cocaine to 
subsidize his habit. He said he had  tried to quit on numerous 
occasions over the past 10  years but never found a program that 
worked -- until drug court.

"My lawyer urged me to try it, and honestly, I think  God 
intervened," Demakos said. "What struck me about  drug court was 
everybody was honest with you from the  start, and if you screwed up, 
there were immediate  consequences."

Those consequences range from more frequent drug  testing or writing 
an essay to a week, or even a month,  in jail. Demakos said he 
flunked a urine test "almost  immediately" after enrolling in drug court.

"The judge locked me up for a week and sent me to a  28-day program," 
he said. "From that point on, I was  back on track. You can't play 
games with drug addicts  -- they're the best game-players in the world."

Today, Demakos runs his own recovery program at a local  church and 
is a guest speaker for the Poughkeepsie drug  court team when they 
visit juvenile detention centers  and local schools and colleges.

"I'll do anything I can to help these people," he said.  "Their 
sincerity level is way up there."

Demakos said he often recalled what his lawyer told him  -- drug 
court only works for those truly committed to  quitting. Other local 
attorneys said they often wrestle  with the question: Is drug court 
right for my client?

"There are inherent conflicts of interest being a  defense attorney 
in drug court," Hopewell Junction  lawyer Kevin MacKay said.

Because defense attorneys become part of the drug  treatment court 
team, they must work in concert with  prosecutors, parole officers -- 
and the judge -- to  keep the addict in line.

"You're put in the position of drug-testing your own  client," he said.

MacKay said he also wondered how impartial a judge can  be after he 
sanctions a client in drug court, then  kicks him out of the program 
and faces him again in  criminal court.

Attorney has reservations

Poughkeepsie attorney D. James O'Neil said he, too, had  some 
reservations about drug court.

"It's a good program, but it puts you in some difficult  positions as 
a lawyer," O'Neil said.

He said there are times when he can envision plea  bargaining a case 
in criminal court that will enable  his client to avoid jail time.

"If you agree to let that same guy go to drug court,  maybe he kicks 
his addiction -- or maybe he fails and  ends up going to jail," O'Neil said.

He said he always makes it a point to explain to his  clients "all 
the worst-case scenarios" of enrolling in  drug court before they 
make any decisions.

"I tell them, 'If there's any question in your mind  about following 
the rules, there's a good chance this  is going to end badly,' " 
O'Neil said. "I don't think  you're doing your job as an attorney if 
you don't  explain to every client the reasons why they should  avoid 
the program."

Senior Assistant District Attorney Cindy Murphy, a  member of the 
Poughkeepsie drug court team, said she  understood O'Neil's point.

"It's definitely a stretch for defense attorneys -- and  for 
prosecutors -- to switch gears when you go into  drug court," Murphy 
said. "Prosecutors are geared to  punish people and here we are 
trying to work with them  and help them. Defense attorneys are geared 
to getting  the best deal for their clients, and in the short term, 
maybe a short jail term is easier and faster. But if we  can fix the 
addiction, we should fix it."

"This is definitely a 'tough love' program," she said.  "It's 
anything but an easy way out."

Knox said she was grateful to everyone in drug court  who had helped 
her fix her addiction, and she said she  hoped to be able to return 
the favor for others. She  plans to go back to school and become a 
drug counselor  for adolescents.

"There's kids right this minute picking up a drug for  the first 
time,' she said. "They don't know what  they're getting into."
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