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| Drug Courts Save Millions by Cutting Prison Time, Studies Say |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 04/24/2003 |
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California's specialized drug courts have saved the state millions of dollars by cutting prison and jail time and reducing recidivism, according to a pair of studies presented to the Judicial Council of California. Drug courts use designated staff and schedules to process illegal drug cases. They have received growing support from judges and law enforcement officials who view it as a tougher alternative to Proposition 36, the voter initiative that requires substance abuse treatment for many nonviolent offenders. By contrast, drug courts generally give judges more leeway to send offenders to jail or prison if they do not respond to treatment. The courts predate the 2000 drug treatment initiative in California and have seen growing use nationally. The Judicial Council's Advisory Committee on Collaborative Justice presented two studies April 15, the first focusing on drug courts in Los Angeles, San Diego, and Butte counties. It found that the drug courts saved about $200,000 a year for each of the 100 participants in the study. With 90 courts statewide averaging a hundred participants each, the study estimated the courts could be saving the criminal justice system as much as $18 million a year. The second study was by the California Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs and the Administrative Office of the Courts. It concluded that arrest rates declined 85 percent for 1,945 drug court graduates in 17 counties, comparing the offenders' arrest records two years before and two years after they completed the drug court program. Conviction rates for the same offenders dropped 77 percent and incarceration rates declined 83 percent, the study found. It also examined the employment histories of 2,892 drug court participants from 28 counties, finding that 62 percent were unemployed when the entered the program but 70 percent had jobs by the time they left. The study also found 96 percent of the 132 babies born to program participants were drug free at birth. The report comes a month after the Little Hoover Commission reported that California annually spends billions of dollars to fight or respond to drug addiction, but not very effectively. Proposition 36, approved by voters in November 2000, requires that first- and second-time nonviolent drug offenders be sent to treatment programs instead of prison. |
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