Pubdate: Mon, 03 Jun 2013
Source: Brooklyn Daily Eagle (NY)
Copyright: 2013 Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Contact:  http://www.brooklyneagle.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/5273
Author: Rob Abruzzese

BROOKLYN IS FINAL STOP ON THE DRUG COURT ROAD TRIP

The National Association of Drug Court Professionals has been touring 
the country to celebrate National Drug Court Month. Its final stop 
was at Brooklyn's Drug Treatment Court on Friday.

The trip, which is called All Rise America!, is meant to highlight 
recovery stories from drug court graduates nationwide. Brooklyn's 
Treatment Court was chosen as its final stop because it is seen as a 
pioneer among drug courts in helping to change the lives of people 
who otherwise would have gotten caught up in the criminal justice system.

"The Brooklyn Treatment Court was established in 1996," Chris 
Deutsch, NADCP's director of communications, said. "It wasn't the 
first drug court in the county, but it was certainly a pioneer, and 
we wanted to end this trip here to recognize that."

There are currently more than 2,700 drug court programs in the 
country. The first one was implemented in Florida in 1989. Drug 
courts seek to rehabilitate people arrested on drug charges who 
otherwise might be in and out of prison for most of their lives.

When the Brooklyn Treatment Court was created, there were only about 
80 such courts in the entire country. The Brooklyn court has now 
graduated more than 3,000 people.

The event on Friday was hosted by Hon. Jo Ann Ferdinand, who presides 
over Brooklyn's drug court. She introduced the Alumni Parade of 
Success, a group of graduates from the Brooklyn Treatment Court who 
gave brief speeches about how the drug court affected them.

"The Brooklyn Treatment Court is the best thing that happened in my 
life because it saved my life," said graduate John Rodriguez. "[Judge 
Ferdinand] saved my life."

Judge Ferdinand credited John Feinblatt, founding director for the 
Center for Court Innovation, for being instrumental to bringing a 
drug court to Brooklyn back in 1996. "He had the vision and turned it 
into reality," she said.

"The easy thing to do would have been to be skeptical, but the 
smarter thing was to put aside preconceived notions to start asking 
the right questions," Feinblatt said about the founding of the court.

Hon. Barry Kamins introduced Brooklyn's District Attorney, Charles 
Hynes, and credited him with being a pioneer of the program. He said 
that because of Hynes, the program quickly caught on throughout all 
of New York.

"I used to be a criminal defense attorney, and I would find it 
offensive when a young DA thought they were making their career off 
of one of my clients," Hynes explained.

Hon. Michael Brennan, a Vietnam veteran, compared the drug-court 
issue to the way veterans used to be treated after coming back home. 
He explained that just as veterans used to be blamed for the war, the 
victims of drug abuse shouldn't be blamed for their problems. 
Instead, society should continue to try to get them help through Drug 
court programs.

To conclude the event, Hynes made a motion that the 12 most recent 
Brooklyn Treatment Court graduates have their felony violations 
expunged. Judge Ferdinand granted the motion, dismissed the charges 
and ordered their records sealed.

Judge Ferdinand was presented with the National Association of Drug 
Court Professionals' ceremonial gavel. Judge Judy Harris Kluger, 
chief of policy and planning in the NYS Court System, was also 
presented with the All Rise Leadership Award as well.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom