Howard County District Court to Honor First Drug Court Graduates
(Ellicott City, MD — June 22, 2005) Howard County District
Court will host a graduation celebration for the first graduates of
the court’s Drug/DUI Treatment Court program at 4 p.m. Wednesday,
June 29, in the District Court Multiservice Building in Ellicott City.
The graduates have recently completed the drug treatment program and
are now drug-free.
“It is the most effective crime fighting tool I have seen in
my legal and judicial career,” said Howard County District Court
Judge Louis A. Becker, III. “Those sentiments were heard, time
and time again, from jurists, including some hard nosed law and order
types from all over the country, as our Howard County Drug/DUI Court
team went around the country, beginning in 2001 training and planning
for ours. As the drug court judge involved in planning and running
our program here, which has been operating since June 2004, I heartily
echo those statements.”
Howard County opened its drug treatment court in August 2004, adding
the DUI Treatment Court – one of three such courts in the state
– in January 2005. The treatment programs provide intensive
treatment, supervision, and comprehensive judicial monitoring to habitual
offenders whose crimes are addiction-driven.
“This court has had such a positive effect on the participants,”
said Bobbie Fine, coordinator of the Drug/DUI Treatment Court. “Watching
them achieve their goals, be praised by court, and know that they
are improving their lives has made the hard work worthwhile. It is
exciting to watch the smiles, give and get hugs, and see improvement
in people who never had a chance before. The whole team is very excited
about this first graduation.”
Since the state’s first drug treatment court was established
in Baltimore City in 1994, 21 other drug treatment courts have been
formed in Maryland. Twelve more are in the planning stages around
the state.
“It's not perfect. However, our experience is that it has significantly
reduced the delay in addressing relapse back into addictive behavior
and the opportunity and incentive to do the same,” Judge Becker
said. “With our drug court defendants, we are on top of their
compliance or relapses every two weeks and not two to six months as
is normally the case with routine Violations of Probation in other
drug cases. We address it through delivery of timely judicial review,
treatment, and a balanced application of positive incentives and rewards
and prompt punishment including jail and other sanctions, i.e., community
service, when appropriate.”
Drug treatment courts incorporate varying levels of treatment as well
as vocational, educational, and life skills training and other services
to address issues that contribute to drug abuse and criminal behavior.
The ceremony will be held in Courtroom 5 of the District Court Multiservice
Building, located at 3451 Courthouse Drive in Ellicott City. Members
of the media are invited to attend.
Please contact the Court Information Office at 410/260-1488 if you
would like to bring a camera or for more information.
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