Pubdate: Sat, 08 Jul 2000
Source: Post-Standard, The (NY)
Copyright: 2000, Syracuse Post-Standard
Contact:  P.O. Box 4915, Syracuse, N.Y. 13221-4915
Website: http://www.syracuse.com/
Forum: http://www.syracuse.com/forums/
Author: Jim O'Hara

PANEL TO STUDY PILOT DRUG PROGRAM

Local task force to consider ways to deal with nonviolent
drug-addicted offenders.

Fifth Judicial District Administrative Judge James Tormey announced
plans Friday to use Onondaga County as a pilot project to expand the
drug court program.

Tormey has created a task force to develop a comprehensive plan for
dealing with nonviolent drug-addicted offenders in all local courts.

Tormey said the plan is to expand on the progress the District
Attorney's Office's Project P.R.O.U.D. Program has made over seven
years and the Syracuse City Court Drug Court program that has been
operating for more than three years.

New York State Chief Judge Judith Kaye's Commission on Drugs and the
Courts has recommended sweeping reforms in the courts across the state
requiring nonviolent drug-dependent offenders be given the opportunity
to receive treatment instead of jail time.

Tormey announced Friday he wants his task force to look into how best
to implement the Commission's recommendations in the local community.

Those recommendations include:

In-depth assessment and testing of people eligible and willing to
participate in programs diverting them from court to treatment.

Statewide screening of criminal defendants and parents charged with
neglect in Family Court to identify nonviolent addicts eligible for
treatment.

Judicial supervision and close monitoring of addicted offenders
throughout the treatment process.

Strict systems of sanctions and rewards to motivate defendants to
succeed in treatment.

Drug courts in every metropolitan area of the state.

Probation violation courts for adults and juveniles to provide more
effective monitoring of defendants who typically abuse drugs.

Family treatment courts throughout the state to handle the child
neglect cases that are based on the substance-abusing behavior of a
parent.

Tormey decided Onondaga County was "uniquely poised" to serve as a
pilot project given the success of project P.R.O.U.D. and the city
Drug Court and a wealth of community services, including Syracuse
University, the center for Community Alternatives, the criminal
Justice Advisory Board and the Onondaga County Drug and Alcohol Abuse
Commission.

He noted Onondaga County has a history of cooperation between the
courts and various public and private community-based
institutions.

Tormey named Syracuse City Judge Langston McKinney, the current Drug
Court judge, to serve as chairman of his task force. Others named to
the task force are County Judge Joseph Fahey, state Supreme Court
Justice John Centra, Family Court Judge Bryan Hedges, District
Attorney William J. Fitzpatrick, Assigned Counsel Program Executive
Director John Parker, Deputy County Executive Edward Kochian, Center
for Community Alternatives Executive Director Marcia Weissman,
Prevention Network Board of Directors President Chris Harris and
Tormey's principal law clerk, Michael Klein.

Tormey has set a Sept. 1 deadline for the task force to present to him
an interim report on the establishment of a way to promptly
identifying all nonviolent, chemically dependent, substance-abusing
offenders in all local criminal courts and Family Court and the
feasibility of establishing a countywide court to offer those
offenders an opportunity for judicially supervised treatment and
rehabilitation.

After a review of the task force report, Tormey plans to present the
plan to the community for comment.
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