Pubdate: Mon, 20 Oct 2003
Source: Mobile Register (AL)
Copyright: 2003 Mobile Register.
Contact:  http://www.al.com/mobileregister/today/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/269
Author: Connie Baggett

DRUG COURT'S GOAL: A CLEAN START FOR THE ADDICTED

BREWTON -- A year ago, court officials here were tired of seeing the 
defendants with crimes rooted in substance addictions returning again and 
again. One judge wanted to try something different.

In a few weeks, Escambia County Drug Court will hold its first graduation 
ceremony where participants will have their pending criminal cases set 
aside -- and the addictions that brought them to jail under control.

"I started to give up on my son," said Pat Faulkner, the mother of a 
42-year-old man addicted to crack cocaine. He has been in the program since 
May. "This program is working. Recovering is hard, I know, but with time, 
I'm beginning to hope."

Drug courts are a fast-growing type of community-based alternative 
sentencing that started in Florida courts more than a decade ago. The 
programs allow people whose addictions led them into nonviolent offenses to 
plead guilty, then follow closely supervised drug treatment for a year.

If the participants successfully fulfill the requirements -- graduation 
equivalency, employment, registration to vote and no further crimes or drug 
use among them -- they graduate and have their cases set aside. If they 
fail to follow the rules, they do jail time, have to repeat part of the 
program or are sent directly to prison.

So far, 49 people have been accepted into the Escambia County program. 
Eighteen are in the first phase, where participants attend classes three 
days a week and court every Friday. They have frequent drug tests and must 
do community service and pay for their treatment sessions.

In Phase II, 12 people are working toward getting employed or attending 
school. They have classes two days a week and attend court every other 
Friday. Another dozen are working in Phase III, close to having all their 
fines and fees paid, close to winning a clean start.

One participant withdrew; one was shot and killed at an area nightclub. 
Five were sen tenced to prison for violations of the rules.

In the year since the program started, 22 secured jobs and three are in 
school. In August, state officials notified administrators of Drug Court -- 
which was started with no funding -- that a $75,000 federal grant had been 
approved to help expand the program, along with other community-based 
corrections programs that might ease overcrowding in state prisons.

During the past six months, the Mobile Register probed the lives of two 
Drug Court participants who agreed to have their stories told. Richard 
Allen Faulkner was a well-paid oil field electrician until crack cocaine 
took his livelihood, his marriage and, finally, his freedom. Dianna Wiggins 
used to be a stay-at-home mom, living a comfortable life with her husband 
and three children. Her husband's death changed all that, and she lost her 
family, home and, finally, her freedom to a methamphetamine addiction.

In the coming months, the Register will publish updates on their progress, 
chronicling their fights to complete the Drug Court's requirements and 
reclaim their lives.

"Drug Court is not easy," Circuit Judge Bradley Byrne told a new 
participant last month. "There are a lot of requirements, and we expect a 
lot of you. ... Officer Jerry Caylor will check on you at home, work, 
wherever -- we will work to keep you honest with yourself. If you are 
successful, your charges will be dropped. If not, a felony conviction stays 
with you the rest of your life."
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MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens