Pubdate: Fri, 15 Jul 2005
Source: Herald-Sun, The (Durham, NC)
Copyright: 2005 The Herald-Sun
Contact:  http://www.herald-sun.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1428
Author: Beth Velliquette

DRUG COURT: GOOD MEDICINE?

CHAPEL HILL -- Some of the senior officers at the Chapel Hill Police
Department likely can tell a tale or two about Tami Atwater and Fitzhugh
Huff.

They were what police and court officials called "regulars."

Both were addicted to drugs, and both would do just about anything to get
money to buy them. Time and again, they were arrested, prosecuted and put
behind bars.

"I've been scamming my way through life since 1985," Huff acknowledges.

But now, he says, he's been clean and sober for about a year. And he
recently got his first real job in nearly 20 years.

The secret to his success? Drug Treatment Court, Narcotics Anonymous and
God, he said.

Drug court is a special judicial route in Orange and Durham counties for
repeat offenders addicted to drugs or alcohol. Defendants are assigned to
intensive treatment and rehabilitation programs to help them overcome their
addictions.

Orange County started its Drug Treatment Court in 2002 with grant money.
Eight people have graduated from the 18-month program, and six are active in
the alumni association. In 2004, the court handled 29 offenders. About
twenty stayed in the program.

Court administrators in Orange County say none of the graduates has been
convicted of another crime as of May 2005.

Durham County started its Adult Drug Court in 1999, added a Youth Drug Court
in 2000 and a Family Drug Court in 2002. In 2004, the Adult Drug Court
handled 51 people and had a 71 percent retention rate and a 38 percent
graduation rate.

A changed life

Huff still is going to Drug Treatment Court but graduates next month.

Then he'll face six months of "aftercare." That means he has to continue to
meet specific requirements or face going to jail on the original charge that
sent him to drug court.

Atwater is married now and goes by the last name of Atwater-Mitchell. She
graduated from Drug Treatment Court more than three years ago and is
president of the local alumni group.

She and her husband rent a house in Durham, have two cars that are paid for
and she's been promoted three times by her employer. She even has a business
card.

It's a long way from the days when she was bone-thin and hung out on the
streets of Chapel Hill doing whatever she could to get money for drugs.

Atwater-Mitchell said she tried many times to kick her habit, but always
failed. Then she heard about the court through her attorney, Timothy Cole,
who was working as an assistant public defender.

Atwater-Mitchell was in trouble again and had a jail sentence hanging over
her head. Cole submitted a plan for her to enter Drug Treatment Court and
stay at Oxford House, a residential treatment center.

"When I got assigned to Drug Treatment Court, the only thing I was looking
at was not going to jail," Atwater-Mitchell recalled.

That's the carrot Drug Court officials use to get people to agree to try the
court: Participate or go directly to jail.

Most of the people assigned to the court are non-violent repeat offenders
facing prison time. If they complete Drug Treatment Court, the pending
charges are dismissed.

Tough road

It sounds simple enough. But it's a long, tough road, say those who have
traveled it.

The program involves at least 18 months of treatment, therapy, meetings,
drug tests and frequent court visits.

There's more to it than just giving up drugs. Participants are required to
change their lifestyle, get a job or enroll in school, and live in a stable,
drug-free environment while becoming mentors for others fighting drugs.

Peter Baker, director of Durham County's Drug Treatment Court, said some
addicts succeed when they've failed so many times before because the court
requires a longer stay in treatment than people would accept voluntarily.

He said he knows of one court graduate who failed 33 times in shorter
programs.

"We keep people in treatment for the whole duration," Baker said.

During a recent court session in Chapel Hill, Chief District Judge Joe
Buckner met with defense attorneys, prosecutors, treatment officials and the
drug court coordinator to check the status of each defendant.

Instead of the normal adversarial relationship between prosecutors and
defense attorneys with a neutral judge, the drug court uses a unified effort
to push a defendant toward a drug- and alcohol-free life.

Needs focus

After some discussion during the session, court officials gave Huff the top
award for the month because he had stayed clean for so long and had found
his first job.

But another defendant wasn't going to get any awards. He had violated some
of the rules and was going to jail for four days.

Once court was in session, Huff received his awards: applause, encouragement
and a $20 gift card to Wal-Mart.

The other man got a firm but encouraging lecture from Buckner.

"We need to get you focused," Buckner told him. "Your life is too important
to throw away, but you've had some problems."

Fans of the court say it saves taxpayer money.

Its services cost about $2,500 per person, compared with $23,000 a year to
put someone in prison, Baker said.

Huff still has a way to go. But so far he's happy with the way his life has
changed.

"I used to think Chapel Hill was real boring," he said. "Now that I don't
get high, life is wonderful."

His activities include Narcotics Anonymous meetings as well as power skiing,
horseback riding, bowling and dancing.

Court critics

But not everyone is so high on drug court.

In June 2000, The N.C. Law Review published an article by District Judge
Morris B. Hoffman of Colorado.

In "The Drug Court Scandal," Hoffman criticized drug courts, saying coerced
treatment takes resources away from people seeking voluntary treatment and
creates a strange circumstance: Someone having to get arrested to get
treatment.

Buckner said that, in Orange County, participating in drug court is
voluntary.

"This court is not for everybody," he acknowledged. "It's not for people who
have mild-use issues."

Hoffman also said drug courts create a separate system of justice for drug
offenders -- one that eliminates the traditional adversarial nature of
justice in favor of cooperation -- to get someone into treatment.

It is a different type of court, Buckner said, but courts have been evolving
for 1,000 years.

"It's basically a problem-solving court," he said. "How can we solve the
problem?" 
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