Pubdate: Sat, 14 Jun 2008
Source: Plain Dealer, The (Cleveland, OH)
Copyright: 2008 The Plain Dealer
Contact:  http://www.cleveland.com/plaindealer/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/342
Note: priority given to local letter writers
Author: Tom Benning
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?159 (Drug Courts)

CUYAHOGA COUNTY JUDGES APPROVE DRUG COURT

Cuyahoga Will Set Up Treatment Program

Cuyahoga County judges didn't let the chance to start a  drug court 
slip through their grasp a second time.

Common Pleas Court judges unanimously voted in favor of  a countywide 
drug court this week - 11 years after  voting against such a measure. 
Court officials hope the  treatment program will be up and running 
within a year.

"We are not going to be soft on crime," Court  Administrator and 
former Common Pleas Judge Tom Pokorny  said. "We are going to be 
smart on crime."

Drug court is a yearlong treatment program for  nonviolent drug 
offenders. Participants must submit to  random drug tests, counseling 
and job training. If they  graduate, charges are dismissed. If they 
fail, they  serve out their sentences.

County judges rejected a federal grant to start a drug  court in 
1997. Some judges were uncertain about the  program's merits, and 
there was not much empirical data  on its success at the time, said 
Administrative and  Presiding Judge Nancy McDonnell.

Cleveland Municipal Judge Larry Jones seized the  opportunity - and 
funding for the program - and started  a city drug court. But it 
wasn't a popular decision.

"Some people thought it was just a feel-good program,"  he said. "It 
is very easy to have the attitude that we  need to lock everybody up 
and throw away the key."

The Greater Cleveland Drug Court has been changing  minds ever since. 
More than 700 people have graduated  from drug court in the past 10 
years, and more than 70  percent remain drug-free, Municipal Court 
spokesman Ed  Ferenc said.

Jones discussed the drug court with county judges  before they voted 
Tuesday. His presentation left the  judges with few doubts, Common 
Pleas Judge Michael  Russo said.

"The current court recognizes that treatment, for those  who will 
benefit, is far better than incarceration,"  Russo said.

The county must still find money for the court and  determine which 
judges will run it. Court officials,  however, were already excited 
about the program's  potential impact on the community.

"It will help people become employed," McDonnell said.  "It will help 
reunite families. It will give  participants a renewed sense of their 
ability to really  beat their addiction."
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom