Alternative Justice is on the rise.
What is Drug Court?
Drug Court is an alternative justice option that has swept
the country. It’s designed, with the assistance of the community and various
treatment providers to provide an option for criminal offenders to get
treatment for their drug addiction, which seems to be the root cause of a
significant portion of criminal activity.
I was accepted into the drug court program in February of
2016 as a part of a plea deal for two counts of Distribution of a Controlled
Substance (i.e. Selling meth to an undercover cop). I have now been a part of
the program for a year. My experience has varied widely from the beginning.
Unsure of what to expect, I figured I would try to get what I can out of the
program. I was honest from the beginning about everything, my drug use, my
mistrust for the system and doubts about the program. Commissioner Davis seemed
to accept, understand, and appreciate everything I was expressing. I was placed
into an outpatient drug treatment program called Heartland Behavioral Health. I
was given a counselor and placed in Moral Reconation Therapy (MRT) and what I
can only assume was a process group.
I had expressed my desire to be with my son’s mother with
whom the circuit court placed a special condition that we not associate with
each other. The judge said they would
look into it and never did. Throughout the year I watched the judge deal with
all kinds of people. The good, the bad, the ugly. I had heard before I joined
the program that Judge Davis was a horrible person who only cared about money.
I can assure you that is not the case.
The Judge
Judge Peggy D. Davis is the Drug Court Commissioner for Greene County. She
assumed this position in August 2000. She has served as a Public Defender for
the State of Missouri, an Assistant Prosecutor for Greene County and as an
Assistant Prosecutor for the City of Springfield. She also practiced general
civil law with Woolsey Fisher Whitaker and McDonald in Springfield, MO. She
received her Bachelor of Arts Degree from the University of Oklahoma in 1985.
In 1988, she received her Juris Doctorate from Oklahoma City University School
of Law.
I’ve been on
the verge of throwing my life away and knowing that nothing is going to save me
and I’m broken, unfixable, and without hope, standing in front of the judge,
having not slept in two days knowing she’s going to send me to jail to continue
my life as a criminal, to lock eyes with her and feeling a wave of compassion
radiate from her soul and wash over me. I walked out of court that and felt the
exact same way I did after I believed I had been saved by Christ himself. The
grass was greener, sun looked brighter, and I was thankful to be alive and a
part of that program. I knew she truly wanted to help and believed in the
program.
The Court
Each
participant in the program has a team of people to utilize for their treatment.
Granted, each person has the threat of prison hanging over their head. However,
the team consisting of the Judge, a treatment counselor, a prosecutor, and a
probation or parole officer.
Every other
week the participants in the program go in front of the judge, flanked by their
probation officer (PO), their counselor, with the prosecutor usually sitting at
the table, and the court pews are filled to the maximum occupancy with people
waiting in the hall due to lack of seating. We, the participants, have an
opportunity to discuss briefly how things have either progressed or digressed
since our last meeting with the judge.
The PO will
discuss item they are concerned about such as, housing, employment, contact,
arrests, and urinary analysis (UAs).
The counselor
will discuss our treatment attendance and how they see us growing in ourselves
and the program. The content of our counseling session remains private, unless
it’s brought up by the participant. The counselor will also talk about the
participation and dedication of the participant in treatment. Believe it or not, there are people in the
program who try to manipulate the system and not fully participate in the
treatment process.
The Prosecutor
doesn’t really do a whole lot through the process until one begins to run out
of chances and the legal process becomes a factor once again. Although, there
is a staffing session held before court convenes and the prosecutor expresses
their opinion which is the same as everyone else, What can we do to help this
individual?
Benefits
The benefits of
participating in the drug court program are vast and varied. There have been
times that I was around old friends who are still deep in their active
addiction and need the help that I’m being provided and all I can think about
is how lucky I am to have the opportunity to participate in the program. For a
person to receive treatment, counseling, would be thousands and thousands of
dollars.
To have a group
of compassionate people to hold you accountable and assist you in being a
better person, is priceless. I have also been given monthly bus passes, which
is truly helpful, and one of the most fundamental pieces of assistance that has
laid a foundation for everything else I have now accomplished.
The Latest
I had requested
of the court to set a case review hearing. A case review is where the team
discusses the overall progress of an individual participant. I requested the
hearing for myself to push me to maintain a positive trek and do better than I
was. I had requested the review back in November and the Review was set for
January 12th, 2017.
From the time I requested the review hearing
until January 10th, I missed no UAs, made it to all my counseling
appointments, became employed, published a book, started the Living Criminal –
American Criminal Brand, started this blog, created my website
livingcriminal.com, and started on my news column tdrucker.newsvine.com.
One of my blog
post titled, “How to Steal from Wal-Mart”, which remains one of my most read
posts, was met with concern by the courts. They considered termination from the
program because of the content. The judge felt she had a duty to keep the
community safe from such criminal activity. After we discussed it she seemed to
understand the work I was doing and simply reset the review hearing to the 31st
of January.
On the 31st
of January we discussed my progress and that I was doing well. I was being
given a probation violation for association. This violation is a result of my
allowing my pregnant fiancée to live with me, despite the no contact order. I
had been requesting for an entire year for the court to consider that very
matter. I understand at various points last year it would not have been in our
best interests. The judge wanted to see Christina and I at the same time to
discuss everything and another court date was set, February 9th,
2017. Until that time Christina was forced to move out and we were to have no
contact.
Final Thought
The drug court
system is a prime alternative to simply locking people up. I personally couldn’t
have asked for a better opportunity. The drug court program has its limits and
short comings, such as being run by the ever so fallible human beings, and
financed through grants and payments of the participants. The number of
services utilized are drastically less than the number that are needed. The
people who participate in the program must have one thing…A desire for a
different life than the one they had while in the streets feeding their active
addiction.
I am seriously
thankful for the drug court program. I have moved my life forward leaps bounds
because of this program. Not to mention the remained drug free and have no
desire to use.
I believed at
one point in time that it was all about money for the state. It is not. Soon I’ll
be doing a blog post about the money flow of the drug court program to dispel
the idea that it’s all about the money.
Respectfully,
American Criminal
