Update on the Drug Treatment Court

On behalf of the Drug Court Team, I am happy to report that the Drug Court has begun operation, effective August 25,2000. We have also formalized our name and will be called the Finger Lakes Drug Court. The Drug Court Team consists of Judge Stephen Aronson, A.D.A. Bill Hart, Attorney Fred Reed, Barbara Oliver from FLACRA, June Fisher from TURNINGS, Officer Dan Ball of the Canandaigua Police Department, Lt. Bill Hastings of the Geneva Police Department, Janet Bohs from the Canandaigua City Court and myself, representing Alternatives To Incarceration. The Drug Court Team recently attended the last of three mandatory training conferences held for jurisdictions that are planning to start a Drug Court. This conference was held in Louisiana and included a visit to the local mentor court there. The conference was extremely productive and the team accomplished much while there. The conference also showed us, however, that there is still much to be done on this project. Therefore, the team is meeting weekly in an effort to move forward in an efficient, effective manner.

On August 25th, the team pre-screened three offenders whose cases all originated in the Canandaigua City Court. One of the goals of the Drug Court, as we learned in Louisiana, is to screen people INTO the Drug Court as opposed to screening them OUT of the court. (We are constantly reminding ourselves and others that the Drug Court approach is a totally new and different approach than what we are traditionally used to in a courtroom setting.) The second day of Drug Court was held Friday, September 08, 2000 and two of the first three pre-screened clients were admitted into Drug Court. The third client is also eligible for admission. Additionally, a fourth client was pre-screened and may be eligible for admission in two weeks. The team recognizes that we need to start the court on a limited basis, to assure that we have the "process" down right and we recognize that we will be doing much "fine tuning" over the first year of the Court.

At the Louisiana conference, Judge Aronson surprised the team by making a public announcement that he had just, the night before, received a call advising him that the Gov. Pataki had signed legislation permitting all courts in the county to refer cases to the Drug Court. This was a major announcement and was greeted with much applause. The law becomes effective November 1, 2000. As many people are aware, New York's Chief Judge, Judith Kaye has issued a directive requiring that nearly all non-violent criminals who are drug addicted be offered treatment instead of jail time, in an effort to reduce the number of repeat offenders clogging the courts and the population in the state's prisons and jails. By starting the Drug Court here in our county, this puts Ontario County well ahead of schedule in complying with Judge Kaye's directive which directs that this effort be fully in place by the year 2003.

The Drug Court Team is excited and enthused as we begin this new venture and we look forward to eventually working with all the courts in the county. I would like to share the mission statement of the court with you: "The mission of the Finger Lakes Drug Court is to protect our community and decrease costs by reducing the revolving door of crime, substance abuse and the rate of incarceration. The Finger Lakes Drug Court requires the increased personal responsibility of convicted non-violent drug offenders by means of intensive community supervision, thus assisting the offenders to become productive and responsible members of their families and society."

~Ginny Gumaer