I have about a dozen Google alerts set up for various topics, because I'm interested in a ton of things, but flaky when it comes to remembering what those things are. So, rather than remind myself to search news sites for words like "gorillas", "intoxilyzer", "iphone update", etc - I just add an alert for those terms and let the magic of Google be my outboard memory.

In a neat bit of synchronicity, two of my search terms converged today: "Drug court" and "Matt Jones".

Jones is an NFL wide receiver who was released by the Jacksonville Jaguars this off-season after being arrested for testing positive for alcohol, which violated a plea agreement he'd worked out. He'd previously been charged with felony possession of a controlled substance, gone through the drug court, and was in line to have the charges dismissed upon completion of the program. (I have a Google alert set up for him because he hasn't signed with a new team yet, and my Bears could sure use the help.)

Anyway - the thing that struck me in the article came in the comments section. Now, typically, I advise against reading the comments section on any news organization's site if you value a normal blood pressure (seriously - click any article on the Statesman's website and observe. Here's one at random, about the resignation of Evan Smith as editor of Texas Monthly, that quickly devolves into slinging insults at illegal immigrants), but I'm also interested in the way that people are perceived, especially people who've been charged with a crime.

This is the comment that stuck out to me:

Possession charges
Submitted by Temporary_S8nt on Fri. 7/17/2009 at 10:26 am
...dropped. How often does that happen to anyone else? Matt Jones, you're lucky on so many fronts--you idiot.

Tone aside (that's my future wide receiver you're calling an idiot!), I thought this was a pretty neat statement about the drug court and diversion system. This guy, Temporary_S8nt or whatever, assumed that receiving a chance to have charges dismissed in exchange for completing a diversion program was such a unique and extraordinary thing that it would be reserved exclusively for people like professional athletes. It's kind of nice to realize that systems like this, when they're used effectively, give ordinary folks the opportunities that we assume are the province of celebrities.

Labels: drug court, DWI Court, football, matt jones, pretrial diversion, texas monthly

posted by Dan   permalink   0 Comments

I just read Raman's post on The National Network for Safe Communities and couldn't agree with her more. Reading it, I reflected on this week's DWI Court graduation ceremony. I am one of two defense attorneys in Travis County's DWI Court - an innovative program which serves people arrested for multiple DWI's by "providing an intensive, judicially supervised program of team-based counseling, treatment, and supervision."

My participation in this court is quite different from my work in "regular" court - rather than working from the traditional adversarial approach, the DWI Court works as a team. Before our Court sessions, the team - consisting of the Judge, Probation, County Attorney, Alcohol Counselors, and Defense Attorney - meets to discuss each participant and their recovery. We problem-solve together and often disagree amongst ourselves, but in the end come up with agreed-upon solutions to help each participant in their recovery.

Even through the team approach, we still function in a "defense attorney" role - as the National Drug Court Institute warns, "It is essential that defense attorneys remain vigilant in protecting civil liberties - even in the relatively nonadversarial context of drug court." That is why I agree with Raman that there should be defense attorneys involved in this new program that could be a great solution to reducing crime and incarceration.

Anyway, as I said, her post made me reflect on this week's graduation ceremony. I must admit that this was the first time that I truly "got" just what makes this court different. Listening to one of the graduates - an older man who had spent many decades addicted to alcohol - speak about how the Court truly changed him was humbling. "I feel like I've just graduated kindergarten and am going into the first grade of life," he said. Not only does the court provide an alternative to incarceration, it can be a springboard into a whole new life.

Labels: dwi, DWI Court, innovative tactics, the role of defense attorneys

posted by Kristi Couvillon   permalink   0 Comments