California Court Helps Kids By Healing Parents’ Addictions

At 10 a.m. on a recent Wednesday morning, a line of parents pushing strollers filed into a conference room at the Sacramento County Courthouse in California. They sat at rows of narrow plastic tables, shushing their babies and looking up at a man in a black robe. Hearing Officer Jim Teal sounded his gavel. “This
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Zoning Board approves Marianas Behavioral Health’s conditional use permit

Despite objections from several individuals, including the applicant’s siblings, the Saipan Zoning Board on Thursday approved the recommendation of Zoning Administrator Therese Ogumoro to grant the conditional-use application of Marianas Behavioral Health International Inc. But the board’s approval included several conditions with which the applicant must comply. The applicant is licensed substance abuse counselor Cris
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Second Cohort For Drug Treatment Court

The Barbados Drug Treatment Court (DTC) will begin sessions for its second cohort of clients on Wednesday, June, 15, at the Supreme Court Complex, White Park Road, St. Michael, beginning at 2:30 p.m. A total of 15 clients are enrolled this time around and they attended an orientation session on June 8, with Chief Justice,
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Drug Court is second chance to change behavior pattern

Is there such thing as a second chance in the criminal justice system? Fortunately, in Guam there is — at least for some people caught up in the underworld of drug abuse. This hope for a second chance is offered through the Superior Court’s Drug Court, a specialty court designed to address the unique and
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Drug court cases require balance in outlook

There are few topics that fuse life, love and laws together with the intensity of drug abuse and drug addiction. Countless lives and families throughout Guam, indeed throughout the world, have been devastated by the relentless ravages of this unrepentant scourge. While the adverse effects of alcoholism can take years to undermine the family structure,
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Judge Peggy Hora lays down the law to the ACT

As the ACT’s jail is forced to expand, retired Californian Judge Peggy Hora is calling on the territory to catch up with the rest of Australia by introducing a drug court. She says it would force people into treatment and keep many offenders out of jail. Ms Hora is renowned for her expertise in “problem-solving
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“Get tough on crime” movement swells prisons

For the past two-and-a-half decades, a new approach to addressing criminal behavior has spread across the United States and, indeed, across the Pacific Ocean to Guam. Today, all the states and territories have introduced specialty courts, frequently referred to as “problem solving” or “therapeutic” courts, to supplement the more traditional judicial approach to prosecuting criminal
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Norway’s New Controversial Approach to Drug Treatment

Hailed by the government as a success, critics argue that it forces people into treatment. Norway is implementing a new approach to treat drug users, one that expands its current drug court program. Instead of sending drug users to prison, Norwegian courts now have thepower to sentence convicted drug users to rehabilitation. The measure, called
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Drug Court gives second chance to addicts in Dandenong

DRUG Court magistrate Anthony Parsons has the voice of a TV newsreader; kindly but authoritative. Mr Parsons genuinely seems to care for the people who come through his court. He welcomes them, asks how they are feeling, explains what they have to do and wishes them good luck, in the manner of a caring father
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Norway to sentence some drug addicts to treatment rather than prison

Norway’s courts will now be able to sentence drug-addicted convicts to treatment programmes instead of sending them to jail. Following trials in Bergen and Oslo, the narkotikaprogrammet (narcotics programme) is being introduced nationwide, effective immediately. Announcing the expansion of the programme, Justice Minister Anders Andundsen said: “We’re rolling out a program that has been tested since 2006, in which
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Bermuda’s Mental Health Court is “Saving Lives”

The groundbreaking Mental Health Court is saving lives and giving participants fresh hope for the future. This according to the men and women who have taken part in the treatment programme as well as the team of lawyers, probation officers, court services staff and judges that work to provide the service. In the past two years,
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Court program for drug addicts helping mostly white males, report finds

A federal court program to divert drug addicts away from prison and into treatment is still not reaching the people it was supposed to help: aboriginals, women and youth. A new evaluation says the program is largely helping white males over the age of 30, the same skewed population a previous assessment warned about six
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Despite Unclear Future, the Drug Court Pushes On

In Dublin’s District Court, just off Chancery Street, the courtroom window is open and lets in the ding-ding sound of the Luas as it takes off from the Four Courts stop. Against a backdrop of bright yellow walls, everyone is quite laid back. Names are scraped into the wooden benches and people can be seen texting every so often
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Costa Rican judicial reform bill would create specialized drug courts

A week after a Judicial Investigation Police (OIJ) chief was arrested in a corruption investigation, the heads of Costa Rica’s three branches of government jointly presented a reform bill Wednesday that would create specialized drug courts, among other reforms to the judicial branch. The bill, developed with the judicial branch, would create a specialized court
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Inside the secret court that helps victims of drug abuse keep their families together

It is a Monday morning in an anonymous room in a grey building in central London. But Jenny Smith is smiling broadly as she poses for photographs with a graduation certificate in her hand. She looks like a million dollars and she has come a very long way. Sixteen months ago she was addicted to
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