Pubdate: Wed, 17 Oct 2001
Source: Herald, The (SC)
Copyright: 2001 The Herald
Contact:  http://www.heraldonline.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/369
Author: Andrew Dys
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?159 (Drug Courts)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/rehab.htm (Treatment)

OFFENDERS GET CHANCE TO LIVE WITHOUT DRUGS, GIVE UP CRIME

YORK - After almost two years of planning, training and hustling to find 
money to pay for it, York County will start its first drug treatment court 
Thursday. The treatment court was initiated by 16th Circuit Solicitor Tommy 
Pope and is aimed at adult nonviolent offenders who will have to go through 
rigorous drug testing, counseling and substance abuse treatment as an 
alternative to criminal sentencing.

Derek Chiarenza, a Rock Hill attorney who has experience as both a 
prosecutor and a defense attorney, will be sworn in Thursday as the drug 
treatment court judge.

"There is definitely a need for this type of treatment court," Chiarenza said.

Pope said the drug treatment court is not an alternative to prosecuting 
drug dealers but an option for offenders who might be committing other 
crimes to pay for their addiction.

"This is not for people making a living selling drugs and preying off the 
lives of other people," Pope said.

Prospective participants must be referred from within the criminal justice 
system or from private lawyers, and applicants are screened for eligibility 
by Pope, Chiarenza and program manager Janice Gillespie.

Besides York County, Greenville, Charleston and Lexington counties in South 
Carolina have drug treatment courts.

Another drug treatment court in York County, for juvenile offenders, is set 
to open late in 2002. State and federal grants, plus some funding from York 
County, will pay for the drug treatment court's operating costs.

But this is no easy program, Chiarenza said. Offenders have to plead guilty 
before starting. Their plea will be withdrawn only if they successfully 
complete all requirements. Graduation requires more than a year of 
intensive treatment and weekly court hearings. Failure to satisfy the 
court's requirements means the plea, and any corresponding criminal 
sentence, could be reinstated.

"The idea is to help these people and try and make them productive members 
of society," Chiarenza said.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Beth