...Drug courts are specialized courts designed to handle the adult, nonviolent offenders with substance abuse problems, incorporating an intensely supervised drug treatment program is an alternative to standard sentencing (Levinthal, 2012). Several of the characteristics of drug courts include early identification and placement of eligible participants, drug treatment with clearly defined rules and goals, a non-adversarial approach, a monitoring of abstinence, judicial involvement and interaction with the participants, and a team approach which judges, defense attorneys, prosecutors, probation officers, and treatment counselors coordinate their efforts. Those offenders who complete the program successfully may have their charges dropped or sentences...
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...Drug courts combine treatment with incentives and sanctions. Sanctions can and do include mandatory, as well as, random drug testing of the offender. Drug courts are a proven tool for improving public health as well as public safety. They provide an innovative way for collaboration between the judiciary, prosecutors, law enforcement and other community corrections agencies, drug treatment providers and community support groups. The effectiveness of these courts is well documented since they first started operating in the United States 20 years ago. In a time of limited resources for local and state budgets, drug courts offer a cost effective way to increase the chances for the nonviolent offender to achieve sustained recovery, thereby reducing recidivism for the offender. The drug court movement began in the 1980s as a response to the growing number of drug cases brought before the court. Law enforcement and corrections agencies policies alone were not having the effect on the drug trade that proponents of the war on drugs had hoped for. An administrative order from the chief judge of Florida’s Eleventh Circuit in 1989 implemented the first drug court in the United States. (Engen, & Steen (2000). The responsibility of the prosecuting attorney is to protect the public’s safety by ensuring that each candidate is appropriate for the program and complies with all drug court requirements. The responsibility of the defense counsel is to protect the participant’s due process rights...
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...Many individuals enter into Drug Court each year from different walks of life. Each year in July, the National Association of Drug Court Professionals (NADCP) request data from community corrections to review arrest of past Drug Court graduates. Through April 1996 to May 2011, data came available on 1,409 individuals who entered Drug Court. The average age of someone who received services through Drug Court was thirty-two-years-old while two thirds were under the age of thirty-five and a quarter of individuals were under the age of twenty-five (Norman, Gray and MacMaster). Drug Court has been shown to have a greater effect on relatively younger high-risk individuals, who were diagnosed with anti-social personality disorder and who previously failed in less intensive treatments (National Association of Drug Court Professionals). When Drug Court accepts someone to the program, the participant is usually non-violent offender whose current charges are due to his or her substance abuse addiction. Participants reported a long history of substance usage for about 17.9 years. The majority of the defendants received substance abuse addiction. Participants reported a long history of substance abuse usage for about 17.9 years. The majority of the participants received substance abuse treatment in the past while none was able to maintain their recovery. The major drug of choice for participants was cocaine at 57.2%, marijuana at 14%, methamphetamine 8.6%, alcohol 8.2%, and prescription...
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...the court officer loudly proclaims: ‘All Rise!’ These two words inspire a sense of awe and respect for our judicial process. But what if the command, ‘All Rise!’ represented a promise — a promise that the court will lighten the burden of people whose problems have become too difficult to overcome alone? What if ‘All Rise!’ became a pledge by the court to look beyond the chaos and wreckage in peoples’ lives caused by addiction and to see their potential? What if ‘All Rise!’ offered the promise to provide the treatment and other tools needed to help people permanently change their lives? When an addict rises out of addiction and crime, we all rise” (West Huddleston, 2011). I thought that was very well put. In this paper, I will touch on the history of drug courts, how they work, and the benefits to the American taxpayers as well as society itself. HISTORY In 1989, the first Drug Court came to be and was located in Miami-Dade County, Florida The Miami-Dade Drug Court ignited a sudden national transformation that has changed our justice system. Ten years later, 492 Drug Courts were in full swing. As of June 30, 2012, 2,734 Drug Courts were in service in every U.S. state and territory. Millions of lives have been changed, thanks to Drug Courts, and they are continuing to spread all over the country and the world. This year, 2,734 Drug Courts will serve over 136,000 people (National Association of Drug Court Professionals, n.d.). A variety of problem solving courts are...
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...Drug Courts: Adult and Juvenile Rehabilitation Programs Eugene Berry Crj2200 Introduction to Criminal Courts Drug courts handle nonviolent substance abuse offenders, drug courts are used primarily to solve a problem rather than to send someone to jail or lock an offender away with less chance of rehabilitation. In the United States there are currently almost 2500 drug courts in the 50 states as well as the U.S. territories of Guam, and Puerto Ricco. Drug courts got their start in Florida, in 1989 judge Gerald Wetherington, Judge Herbert Klein, and state attorneys designed the court for non-violent offenders in Miami-Dade County, to battle a rising crack-cocaine problem in there city’s. Drug courts are a program the can involve different levels of intensive supervision by the courts themselves, this includes drug testing and substance abuse clinics or treatment programs. Drug court judges gain a lot of discretion and leeway in this system and can give the offenders instant or gradual sanctions if the offenders fail to meet the standards of the program given. To help keep the offenders compliant the courts can offer fewer drug tests, fewer court dates, and even the possibility of reduced or completely dismissed sentences if they programs are fully completed. Drug courts are proven to keep offenders from repeating their offences and the overall reduction in recidivism rates on these charges. There is research being done today that shows this treatment method could reduce drug...
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...first drug court was established in Miami-Dade, Florida in 1989. Drug courts were established because of the “revolving door of drug use” and increasing recidivism rates. Drug courts have the ability to change a person’s life the better by teaching them how to beat their addictions by provind the proper treatments to the offenders. The purpose of this paper is to inform the reader about the effectiveness, success, goals, and failures of the the Maricopa County Drug court, Baltimore City Drug Court, and the King County Drug Diversion court systems. The number of Drug court systems around the world are continuously increasing. In June 2010, there were about 2,500 drug courts that are being operated in the United States of America....
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...Executive Summary The American court system is overflowed with people that suffer from substance abuse. For example drug and/or alcohol related crimes have been implicated in violent crimes, instances of domestic violence, child abuse and neglect cases. Therefore, drug court has come in to offer people arrested for substances abuse related crimes and opportunity to receive community-based treatment with judicial supervision to avoid potential incarceration. For this reason drug court has changed people’s lives in a variety of ways, which are often overlooked, are the positive impact on families and society. Overall, substance abuse offenders have a recurring problem for the criminal justice system as a result drug courts are an important strategy to reduce incarceration, provide drug treatment and reduce recidivism among nonviolent offenders. Another key point is research study by the National Institute of Justice in 2009 called the Multi-Site Adult Drug Court Evaluation confirmed that Drug Courts reduced crime and substance abuse, improved family relationships, and also increasing employment and school enrollment. (Marlowe, 2010) Another key point is drug courts have affected the offender’s criminal behavior and substance use with mandated drug and alcohol treatment. Henceforth drug courts has been a popular diversion program for drug offenders since it’s began in Dade County Florida in 1989. Overview Drug courts represent the criminal justice approach to ensure public...
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...Juvenile Drug Court Program Garret July 11, 2015 Due to the influx of juvenile drug offenses, it became clear that juvenile drug offenders required a more stable, directed and protected process if decrease of offenses was going to be successful for offenders, and the idea of the drug court was a good one. The drug court utilizes an idea called wrap-around services, which had previously been so successful with reducing the recidivism of adults. This study of the JDC in Lexington, Kentucky was undertaken to examine the outcomes of the implementation of the adaptations of the wrap-around procedures and services to see if the new model was succeeding. These adaptations stemmed from an in depth theoretical perspective application to basically understand why children do what they do with hopes of applying these theories to the JDC. Without attempting to answer the question of why children act the way they do, the question that the study hoped to answer was could a web of conventional social norms be woven to help prevent the behaviors (social interaction theory) or provide a base of norms, which children can choose to conform to (social control theory). These conventional social norms that were applied to the JDC were based on the comprehensive wrap-around service idea of criminal activity reduction. Overall, JDCs have been created countrywide since offenses for drug abuse have risen while other offenses for juveniles have either leveled out or decreased over the past ten...
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...Participate in Drug Court The past month has definitely been a learning experience for me. The biggest lesson that I have learned would have to be about complacency. Since I first started attending AA & NA meetings I have heard people say that they became complacent. They felt comfortable where they were in their sobriety and decided that it was okay to slack off a little bit. It was okay to miss the occasional meeting and not call their sponsor every day. Ultimately this always led to a relapse. I was lucky enough to not reach the point of relapsing even though I had become extremely complacent. I was comfortable with my job and only going to group once a week for one hour. I was doing the bare minimum when it came to my weekly meetings instead of going to a meeting a day like I was when I started Drug Court. I have learned that even though a job and a social life are important, I need to be sure that my sobriety comes first. I feel as though I was only days away from a relapse because of the people that I was surrounding myself with and situations that I allowed myself to be apart of. Thankfully I had a major wake up call and was allowed the opportunity to take a step back and see the error of my ways. That being said, I want to be able to participate in Drug Court ultimately so that I can grow. Staying sober wasn’t necessarily an issue for me because I was pretty much given an ultimatum: stay clean or go to prison. By being allowed to participate in Drug Court...
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...for Mr. Podolski: R.C. Claus, M. Jetté, G. Docolas Counsel for Mr. O’Donnell: G. Orris, Q.C., C.L. Bauman Counsel for Mr. Manolakos: R.A. (Sandy) Ross, P. Doherty, A. Rinaldis Counsel for Mr. Brownell: C.R. Purves, B.L. Hickford, J. Mills Brief Summary of Trail This trail took place in Courtroom 20 in the B.C. Supreme Court where every visitor was required to pass through a security check. The case involves three homicides done 5 years ago by five members of an alleged Vernon, B.C. drug gang dubbed The Greeks (Organized crime group). The alleged gangsters are being represented by 15 lawyers, 5 more than the Crown prosecution team. Among the 5 accused, Dale Sipes, Les Podolski and Sheldon O'Donnell have been charged with the first-degree murder of Dave Marnuik and none of them have pleaded guilty. Due to the seriousness of the case and lengthy court proceedings, the trail is expected to last until July of 2012. From our observation, the lawyer represented Crown (plaintiff) began direct examination of a girl(witness) who claimed to have seen the defendants return to the apartment that she was living in. Crown’s lawyer asked her if she did truthfully report to the police officer what she saw and accurately draw the diagram of the location. We did not see any of the defendants giving opening statement and been examined....
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...discriminatory. Those steps are: 1. The side objecting to the others use of a peremptory challenge on racial grounds has to make a timely objection, display that the juror is of a distinct racial group and request that the court ask the striking party its reasoning behind the strike. 2. The burden of production of...
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...standard operating procedures as a first time offense. However performing a surgery without sterilization can use patient harm or death. “Unprofessional conduct” from the hospitals definition needed to be reviewed by HR and clarified to all. In Leach’s case his continuous behavior prompted suspension of duties/licenses and approval by the staff and Board. There are processing in place to proving “unprofessional conduct” that provides several options to hospitals (i.e. documenting behavior, suspension, reassignment of duties or recommend to Board) (Showalter, 2007). No judge would dissent in the Leah’s case. Leah was apparently suffering from alcohol, drug or mental issues that impaired his abilities and altered his behavior. 2. What do you suppose were the “disruptive behaviors” involved in the Moore and Leach cases? Why do the courts not describe them in detail? It is...
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...On September 15th, 2015, I attended the General District Court of Williamsburg and observed an hour of the Court’s proceedings. The only background knowledge I have, of what Court proceedings may look like, all comes from watching hours of Law and Order: SVU. While sitting and observing the Court interactions, I focused on the criminal procedures being discussed during each case and the overall “culture” of the Court in regards to the judge and the two attorneys present for each case. In total I saw seven court cases presented before Judge Killilea. In television shows criminal procedures are long and rigorous. There is a lot that takes place between the arrest of the criminal and the court debates that last for hours or even days to determine...
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...Kramer? The jury convicted Kramer on both drug counts that he was indicted for. These charges were “conspired with unidentified persons to distribute large quantities of marijuana and amphetamines during the years 1977 and 1978, that on one occasion in 1977 defendant had distributed some 1,000 pounds of marijuana” (Westlaw, Kramer vs. US, pg. 1). The evidence used to support this case was retrieved from trash bags by policemen on Kramer’s property. These trash bags were to be garbage set there for a private garbage removal service to pick up. The policemen did not have a warrant to take this garbage, but they did so anyway, took it back to the station, and searched through it piece by piece. Kramer appealed this, saying that his garbage on his property is protected by the Fourth Amendment. He thought his garbage was private property that could be searched through or looked at by anyone but himself. Kramer was very mistaken by this. The Fourth Amendment does not protect possessory interests in land. A trespass invades someone’s right of possession. It does not have anything to do with privacy. Preventing others from using one’s land in the circumstances here is not a privacy interest. Kramer’s appeal was denied under these circumstances. 2. What was the final ruling by the court in regards to the admissibility of the evidence? As I stated above, Kramer’s appeal to dismiss the evidence found in his garbage was denied. The court could not support his claim under the Fourth...
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...I. Style of Case and Citation: Waters v Min Ltd 587 N.E.2d 231 (Mass.1992) II. Court Rendering Final Decision: Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts III. Identification of Parties and Procedural Details Gail A.Waters Plaintiff, Thomas Beacuchemin., Defendant. IV. Discussion of the Facts: Gail Waters (plaintiff) owned an annuity contract worth $189,000, with a total potential value of $694,000 over 25 years. When Waters was 21, she began dating Thomas Beauchemin (defendant), who had a strong influence over her. He introduced her to drugs and exhausted her credit card accounts. He then suggested that she sell her annuity contract and, as an agent of Min Ltd. (Min) (defendants), initiated negotiations between Waters and Min. Waters contracted to sell her annuity contract to Min for $50,000. In the negotiations, Min was represented by counsel and Waters was not. In recognition of his fostering the sale, Min dropped a $7,000 debt that Beauchemin owed them. Waters brought suit for rescission of the contract on the grounds that it was unconscionable. The trial court found in her favor. Min appealed. V. Statement and Discussion of the Legal Issues in Dispute The defendants contend that the judge erred by (1) finding the contract unconscionable (and by concluding the defendants assumed no risks and therefore finding the contract oppressive); (2) refusing them specific performance; and (3) failing to require the plaintiff to return all the funds received from them. Unconscionability...
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