MinnLawyer Blog

Yesterday, graduates from the Hennepin County Drug Court celebrated their successful completion of a 12-month program led by judges Toddrick Barnette (at left in photo) and Peter Cahill (right). The 23 graduates, along with their families, friends, probation officers and staff listened to Minnesota Supreme Court Chief Justice Eric Magnuson (center) remark in his address that the judiciary is “committed to support Drug Court funding.”

Drug courts have been popping up all over the state. Their main objective is to reduce illegal drug usage, thereby reducing recidivism among chemically dependent participants that are at high risk to re-offend. And apparently, they work. A national study conducted by the Urban Institute, a nonpartisan economic and social policy research organization in Washington, D.C., concludes that 84 percent of drug court participants did not have any criminal activity within one year of graduation.

Last year, I wrote a story on the state’s use of drug courts to address the growing problem of drug and alcohol addicted offenders. I spoke with one woman who had attempted suicide following her third arrest for the illegal use of prescription opiates. Rather than go to jail, she entered the Stearns County Drug Court, and with the help of a judge and others working in the program, emerged determined to change her life. And she did. At the time I talked with her, she had been drug free for more than three years.

I really believe these programs can and do help people get their lives back on track, in part by providing much-needed encouragement and support to end the cycle of addiction and crime that keeps dragging them back into the system. And I sincerely hope that the judiciary’s looming budget issues don’t force the elimination of or even cutbacks in the programs. It would bad for the court system, for the jails, for the public, and, of course, for the participants themselves. I am encouraged by Chief Judge Magnuson’s words and hope that he and the rest of the judiciary remain committed to continued funding for drug and other problem-solving courts.

Congratulations and good luck to Hennepin County’s latest group of graduates!