Pubdate: Thu, 15 Aug 2002
Source: Daily Citizen, The (GA)
Copyright: Daily Citizen 2002
Contact:  http://www.northwestgeorgia.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1929
Author: Daniel Farrow
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?159 (Drug Courts)

DRUG COURT DELIVERS COMPASSIONATE JUDGMENT

CHATSWORTH - Drug court is a new way to treat first-time felony offenders 
with drug addictions so they get treatment and a chance to turn their lives 
around, according to Superior Court Judge Jack Partain.

Partain told a group at a luncheon hosted by the Chatsworth-Murray County 
Chamber of Commerce and the Rotary Club about the program Thursday.

Drug court is a world apart from ordinary criminal court, he said.

"In regular court, you have defendants; in drug court we have 
participants," Partain said. "In regular court you have a determination of 
guilt and a sentence; in drug court we have a determination of addiction 
and an order for treatment."

The differences are numerous and significant, Partain said.

In most criminal courts, offenders are separated from the community, but in 
drug court they are encouraged to be a part of the community, he said.

Mandated punishment is replaced with individualized treatment programs. One 
court appearance is replaced with a court appearance every week.

While a defendant's family is rarely considered in a traditional court 
case, in drug court the family is an integral part of the program, Partain 
said.

"I have had drug court participants come before me with their whole 
family," he said. "They sit in court with their baby on their knee, and 
that's what I want. The family is their support system, which they will 
need to combat their addiction."

Drug court participants are placed into an intensive two-year treatment 
program, which starts with two hours of treatment five days per week, 
George Shirilla, drug court coordinator, said at the luncheon.

The treatment is gradually tapered off until the participant is in 
treatment for about one hour per week, Shirilla said. At the same time, 
though, the person is increasing his or her participation in support groups 
like Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous, Shirilla said.

The Conasauga Judicial Circuit, composed of Murray and Whitfield counties, 
started accepting participants for its drug court program Feb. 12, Partain 
said. The program currently has 23 participants, who are in varying stages 
of recovery, he said.

Preparations for the drug court here began two years ago, Partain said.

That was when Coy Temples, then the chief judge, suggested Partain attend a 
seminar on the idea.

"I thought it was something that would work here," he said.

Other drug courts' success stories are what really convinced Partain, he 
said. He hopes to have similar success stories in two years when 
participants begin to graduate from this drug court.

"Drug court saves lives," Partain said.

And by preventing participants from committing more crimes, it unites 
families, reduces crime and reduces demands on social services, saving 
taxpayers money, he said.

The drug court works as a team effort, Partain said. The judge, district 
attorney, public defender, probation officers and law enforcement 
representatives meet each week to talk about every case, he said.

While each of these people has an adversarial role in traditional court, 
they are all working together with the single goal of advancing the 
participant's treatment in drug court, Partain said.

In these meetings, it may even be the public defender who proposes jailing 
a participant as a sanction for a relapse or the district attorney who 
argues for keeping the participant out of jail, he said.

The system works through sanctions for violations of the rules and rewards 
for following the rules and working to stay clean and sober, Partain said.

Sanctions can range from a stern lecture to jail time, while rewards can 
range from "a pat on the back" to tickets to a ball game, he said.
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