The Drug Court of New South Wales was introduced in February 1999 as a 2-year-pilot program under the Drug Court Act 1998 (NSW). After various evaluations it was decided to extend the pilot-program until 2004, with amendments being made to the Drug Court Act 1998 (NSW) in December 2002.…
In this article, it looks at the effectiveness of drug courts compared to the more conventional court penalties on offenders. Kornhauser (2016) indicates how drug courts reduce offender’s chances reoffending by entering them into treatment programs, over incarceration. Kornhauser (2016) states there’s a lack of consistent evidence to prove this theory. Drug courts started its first rehabilitation program in NSW in 1999. Drug courts can now be found operating in other Australian jurisdictions to combat crime.…
Both of these article look at the different types of treatment that Drug Court uses and its success rates in the different categories. For one to truly understand what Drug Court strives to achieve we must look at studies done on the way treatment was provided and the success of each type. This is very important for those looking to help improve the structure and function of the services provided. To be able to best help those who struggle with drug or alcohol addictions, we must look closely at what treatment has been successful and which treatment has had a higher rate of failure.…
Drug courts were put into place to seek the underlying cause of drug addiction which many believe can also relate to drug related crimes. The first Drug Courts started in Dade County, Florida. Since 1989 Drug Courts have expanded to every state and there ae more than 2,100 working drug courts in the United States (Tiger, 2011 p. 172). The structure of all courts is different but there are three main common features in each court. The first being “Legal and external pressure” this means it is a judges duty to mandate or sentence a person to drug courts. Second there is a second judge that sits on the Drug Court committee that reviews progress each week and a probation officer that does random drug testing every week. Drug testing is a key factor so that there is an accountability factor on every member of Drug Court in order to stay clean. The third factor that all courts have in common is there is a verity of sanctions and privileges given to members of the courts. Sanctions for members that have broken the rules and privileges for those that have been doing good and continue on the right path and stay clean (Tiger…
In the 1970s and 1980s, America faced a severe drug epidemic. The rise of drug use led to an increase in crime. Incarceration rates nearly tripled due to drug related crimes. The need to address this growing problem led to the drug court movement and the creation of drug courts. Drug courts are special courts that treat offenders with a history of substance abuse addictions by providing supervised treatments and sanctions when needed. This paper will discuss the establishment and goals of drug courts. It will also discuss the success or failures of drug courts in California, Florida, and D.C.…
Over the past two decades, specialized courts have resulted, according to Quinn (2009), in response to, the “problem solving court” movement (As cited in Cole and Getz, 2013). Such courts, Quinn (2009) noted, have come to focus on social concerns such as, addiction, domestic violence, and mental health issues, and have come to asset that such courts have cured addiction, addressed issues of intimate violence, prevented recidivism, reduced costs, and implied that they have even saved lives (As cited in Cole and Getz, 2013). Recently, however, such success stories have been called into question as modern court reformers have claimed that the assertions by the courts are misleading, as alternative experiences within and contrary opinions about…
Drug Courts have been around for a little under three decades now. “Dating back to 1989, the first drug court was established in Miami-Dade County, Florida” (NADCP, 2015). Once that first drug court system was set up it took off from there and drug courts were rapidly developed throughout the United States. The number of drug courts rose from the first drug court in 1989 to “2,734 drug courts by June 30, 2012” (NADCP, 2015). Drugs courts main goal is to try and treat the offender drug abuse problem using everyway possible.…
The United States only has 5 percent of the world's population and uses 75 percent of the world's prescription drugs. The United States has the highest prison population out of all the countries and almost half of the prisoners are there because of drug crimes. Due to the ever increasing drug use in the U.S. today, our society would benefit from less punishment and more rehabilitation, some benefits include less spending, lower incarceration rates and lower death rates.…
Courts try to circumvent the path these young people are on by addressing underlying issues that moved them to be in the possession of drugs. One of the main purposes of drug court is supervised probation, which is mandatory part of the juvenile’s treatment. Probation officers are trained to conduct clinical assessments, to monitor the treatment of the juvenile and conduct drug testing. As expected, other treatment and conditions apply. The only real difference between a juvenile drug court and the adult drug court is…
In 1989 the first drug court was introduced in Miami Dade County, Florida. Drug problems in Florida were substantial and mirrored many states across the United States. Crack Cocaine was on the rise as so was the crime across the United States. The many types of drug courts have been put in place to decrease recidivism, drug use and restore lives and families. Drug Courts are designed to serve as the alternative for incarceration. A big factor in criminal justice is figuring out what programs work for the community which are the taxpayers, and the offenders we are serving and helping. Drug courts are very successful out of the many correctional programs that exist. First discussing the background model that a comprehensive range of drug courts…
The United States’ court system, jails, and prisons contain a significant number of offenders that have been convicted with drug related offenses, many of which are suffering from drug addictions. Drug abuse is becoming more prevalent, as drugs are becoming more and more readily accessible. Drug courts are a form of intervention used to treat drug-addicted offenders. Drug courts use the power and authority of a judge to keep a drug offender in treatment, providing rewards for successes and sanctions for failures. This form of intervention is used in order to reduce drug use, reduce crime, save money and restore lives.…
In June 2010, there were about 2,500 drug courts that are being operated in the United States of America. By 2012, the number of drug courts increased to 2,734 that are currently operated in the united states. Drug court programs usually take between six months to a year to be completed. It is believed that offender with unmanageable addictions tends to commit about 63 crimes a year. There are offenders of all ethnicities that participate in drug courts. It is estimated that 62% of the participants in drug courts are caucasian. It is also believed that African Americans make 21% of participants around the world. Drug Courts are very significant in the court system because they have a huge impact on the offender’s life in the long run. In this paper, I will focus on the goals,successes, and failures of the Maricopa County Drug court, Baltimore City Drug Court, and the King County Drug Diversion court…
With drug courts existing for over 25 years, some of the research presenting tangible results have been scarce. Because the structure of drug courts varies, not all of them are concerned with monitoring and improving their individual program even if it is imperative among the 10 key components. Some may find it challenging to implement strategies that will continuously evaluate programs due to lack of time and expertise (Rempel, 2010). Drug court professionals believe that the few evaluations that do exist do not necessarily influence practices or grant support from the public. However, what drug court professionals fail to realize is that there are ways for them to implement action research, a form of research that “provides immediate and useful feedback about everyday program operations and performance”, with limited resources and still retain information that can identify areas of success along with problem areas that need improvement (Rempel,…
Drug Courts came about as a result of a backlogged court system and a steady, rapidly increasing prison population. Drug courts are a form of diversion that helps the offender through rehabilitation and the community through an increased sense of protection, which serves the best interest of everyone. Drug Courts are community based intermediate sanctions that incorporate treatment principles into the Criminal Justice System and divert drug offenders from traditional punishments of probation and prison. The objective of drug courts programs is to treat the underlying problems of addiction among drug offenders and eliminate participants' future drug use and crime.…
Statistics have proven that incarceration alone is a monetary pitfall and does not deter the cluster of non-violent drug related crimes in this country. We need to create an alternative habilitation pattern for these offenders including an assessment of their mental health, specialized life skills training, and occupational employment assistance: in some cases, in lieu of incarceration and in others, in conjunction with incarceration. Ask yourself these questions: What affect would this type of intense program have on the recidivism rate? Would we be saving tax-payer dollars by producing graduates from drug rehabilitation programs instead of housing repeat criminals? To eliminate overcrowding in our prisons, reduce the soaring incarceration costs, and provide parolees the tools necessary to re-enter society in a productive manner, we must develop a rehabilitation system for the non-violent drug offenders.…