Pubdate: Mon, 25 Mar 2002
Source: Richmond Times-Dispatch (VA)
Website: http://www.timesdispatch.com/
Feedback: http://www.timesdispatch.com/editorial/letters.htm
Address: P.O. Box 85333, Richmond, VA 23293
Contact:  2002 Richmond Newspapers Inc.
Fax: (804)819-1216
Author: Michael Paul Williams

DRUG COURT GRADUATION STIRS HOPES

Before three graduates of the Richmond Adult Drug Treatment Court received 
congratulatory hugs and handshakes, they heard this parable from substance 
abuse clinician Madeline Berry:

A farmer owned an old mule who fell into a well. The farmer heard the 
mule's entreaties for help but decided neither the mule nor the well was 
worth saving. So he began filling the well with dirt.

As each shovelful plopped on his back, the mule shook off the dirt and took 
a step up. Fighting panic, the animal kept shaking off dirt and stepping 
up. Eventually, he climbed out of the well.

"What seemed like it would bury him actually helped him, all because of the 
way he handled his adversity," Berry said.

At the end of the fable, probation officer Mark Hairston looked at the 
graduates seated on the stage at the Richmond Police Academy. "OK, you 
three old mules," he cracked, as an auditorium of drug court participants 
and family members burst into laughter.

Friday was a happy day for graduates Keith Cousins, Jefferson Lewis and 
Antoine Robinson. Drug court advocates are working to prevent them from 
being the last people to complete the program.

Richmond Adult Drug Court is a voluntary, court-supervised treatment 
program for nonviolent felony offenders that seeks to point its 
participants toward a drug-free lifestyle, enhanced job prospects and 
self-sufficiency.

As I wrote a few weeks ago, the program is in peril. Since that column, the 
General Assembly chose not to fund Richmond's drug court and similar 
programs throughout the state.

Circuit Judge Margaret P. Spencer, who presides over the program, is 
awaiting a decision from Gov. Mark R. Warner on whether he will restore 
$2.7 million to the state budget to pay for juvenile and adult drug courts 
throughout Virginia.

In the meantime, drug courts are pursuing other options, including private 
money and local funding.

Spencer and others will meet with City Council at 3 p.m. today in City 
Hall's second floor conference room.

The fate of the program hung over Friday's graduation ceremony but did not 
cloud it.

The power of God, perseverance and second chances were recurring themes.

Fredericksburg Commonwealth's Attorney Charles S. Sharp lauded the 
graduates for their achievement, but warned that they are about to embark 
on the toughest leg of their journey.

Sharp is a convert to the drug court program. "I was initially opposed to 
it," he said. But after watching the same repeat offenders pop in and out 
of the system, he realized alternatives to incarceration were needed.

Richmond Police Maj. Daniel A. Goodall Sr. sent the graduates off with a 
charge to be respectful and committed, to value self, to continue their 
education and to control their destiny.

The graduates cradled their certificates like proud fathers holding 
newborns. Which, in essence, they were.

"I had a few stumbles when I was in there," said Jefferson Lewis, 45, an 
employee at Tyson Foods. "But I got up, brushed myself off and just kept 
coming back. I finally came through."

"Anybody tell you drug court don't work, they're lying," he said. "It 
works. I'm living proof."
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