Pubdate: Wed, 18 Oct 2000
Source: New York Times (NY)
Copyright: 2000 The New York Times Company
Section: Metro Briefing
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Fax: (212) 556-3622
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Author: Laura Mansnerus, New York Times

MANHATTAN: DRUG-TREATMENT CHIEF NAMED

A director has been chosen for the New York State courts' program to place 
nonviolent drug-addicted offenders in treatment instead of jail. Judge 
Joseph J. Traficanti Jr. was named yesterday to oversee drug screening and 
treatment for offenders in criminal and family courts. Last June, when 
Chief Judge Judith S. Kaye announced the program, she said it should keep 
10,000 people a year out of the prison population, now about 95,000. Judge 
Traficanti will also direct an organization of new, specialized courts for 
repeat misdemeanor offenders. He will remain a deputy chief administrative 
judge, responsible for state and local courts outside New York City.
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