Vol. 10, No. 1, Pg. 32. Drug Courts.

• Author: By the Hon. William P. Keesley

South Carolina Lawyer

1998.

Vol. 10, No. 1, Pg. 32.

Drug Courts

32Drug CourtsBy the Hon. William P. KeesleyThe Problem

What do we do to addicts in the criminal justice system? We spend a fortune on them. Three-fourths of inmates at the South Carolina Department of Corrections have addiction problems. We house, feed, and clothe thousands, then the public picks up the tab for their dependents. The devastation to families and society is immeasurable. Most addicts get second chances and more. Yet, a spot check of defendants minutes after being sentenced to probation found that 65 percent tested positive for drugs; most for cocaine. We are being buried in this avalanche, and nothing in the process seems to change behavior.

34Here's the simple truth. Addicts relapse. There's no excuse for it, but almost all addicts do relapse. The criminal justice system is built around a logical principle of deterrence: the threat of incarceration. It's logical to assume that an addict whose path has led to the precipice will stop. There's one major problem: Addicts don't act logically. Drugs shove selfishness ò past the point of self-destruction. We have proclaimed our edict: Get wasted, go to jail. In the process, maybe the system gets wasted, too.

Could We Design Better Punishment?

Prison always equals punishment, but why must punishment always be in the form of prison? I'm not talking about coddling criminals. We need prisons and jails. Clearly, violent offenders and others must be separated from society.

But for nonviolent offenders, even repeat offenders, with no history of violence whose criminal activity is obviously driven by addiction, there must be a smarter, more cost-effective, focused and intensive means of forcing accountability, facing the addiction and treating it, wihtout making the defendant a ward of the state.

When the desire for help is genuine, it is possible to alter an addict's course. That's what Drug Court is about. It's an alternative means of punishment for certain types of people--a treatment court, merging intensive treatment with the power of a court. It's about making a wiser investment of taxpayer money.

The Drug Court program compels defendants to face their addictions and meet their responsibilities to their victimes, their families and society. In the course of that punishment, it enables addicts to rescue themselves. It's nothing more than a common-sense application of people and resources.

Addiction: A View from the Precipice

In fashioning punishment, it helps to understand, at least in simple terms, the demons with which we are wrestling. There's a strong temptation to address drugs by threatening to take things away: freedom, a driver's license, all kinds of things. There's a place for that--a very valuable place--but we need to realize that addicts already throw away everything they hold dear. Everything is consumed by the consumption.

To deter...