A path to sobrietyCourt programs help drug, alcohol abusers take back their lives Michael
Kiefer They had been to hell and back, or at least to jail. One had lived on the street and found nothing wrong with that. Most had lost jobs. One even lost her teeth. These were the testimonials of men and women who had successfully finished the Maricopa County Superior Court programs called Drug Court and DUI Court and were served up by the court at a ceremony this week in downtown Phoenix to provoke sober thoughts before the Memorial Day weekend. Though
they take place in county courtrooms, these are really court-ordered
probation programs that pit motivation against punishment. The participants
are praised when they succeed and punished when they relapse. Offenders sent to Drug Court or DUI Court can expect to stay there at least a year. "It's very rare that anyone gets through it without a problem," said Presiding Judge Barbara Rodriguez Mundell, who runs the Spanish DUI Court. When she awarded a certificate to one of her graduates, she told him in Spanish: "It's important that you maintain your sobriety." Then after a pause, she added, "And that I don't see you again in this court." At the end of last month, there were 603 participants in Drug Court and 281 in DUI Court. The defendants have all been convicted, and some have served jail sentences. Among the terms of their probation, they must attend meetings, wear bracelets to |
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track their alcohol use, submit to substance testing, make regular appearances in court and hold down a job. Or suffer the consequences, which could mean going back to jail. Before their court appearances, the judge, probation officers and prosecutors discuss the defendants' progress. "I get to know them and their families and what goes on in their lives," said Judge Carey Hyatt, who oversees most of the "therapeutic courts," so named because their intent is to address behavior that needs to be changed. Graduates took the microphone to tell how they overcame their addictions. "I kept saying I didn't need help," Mike Peterson said of the time he was living on street at 48th Street and Southern Avenue. Now, he's married and works for a construction company. "Don't give up on us and don't let us give up on ourselves," he told the audience. The graduates thanked their probation officers and counselors and the judges. "You don't like it at first," said Patricia Kilpatrick, who was convicted of possession of drug paraphernalia, "but you learn to make it part of your life. After six months, I made the decision to never use again." Kilpatrick was proud to say that she could afford to get her teeth fixed, which is a major problem for some drug users, and that she now had a truck and a bank account. "I'm happy with myself," she said. "I really have a life now, and no one can take it away from me. Not this time, not ever." This information is courtesy of http://www.azcentral.com/ |
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