Drug Court is second chance to change behavior pattern
Sunday, 20 March 2016
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
- Published in Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment Courts, Guam
Drug court cases require balance in outlook
Sunday, 13 March 2016
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,
- Published in Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment Courts, Guam
Judge Peggy Hora lays down the law to the ACT
Tuesday, 08 March 2016
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
- Published in Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment Courts, Australia
“Get tough on crime” movement swells prisons
Sunday, 28 February 2016
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
- Published in Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment Courts, Guam
Norway’s New Controversial Approach to Drug Treatment
Monday, 22 February 2016
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
- Published in Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment Courts, Norway
Drug Court gives second chance to addicts in Dandenong
Wednesday, 17 February 2016
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
- Published in Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment Courts, Australia
Norway to sentence some drug addicts to treatment rather than prison
Sunday, 14 February 2016
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
- Published in Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment Courts, Norway
EU Project: a visit to Ghent Drug Court
Thursday, 11 February 2016
ECAD participates in a 2-year long EU project (TRIPLE R) on the exchange of the best practice in the field of recovery between EU member states. The project aims at reducing recidivism and crime in regard to drug addiction and spreading the cost effective and productive models on drug Rehabilitation, social Reintegration and Reinsertion of
- Published in Belgium
Bermuda’s Mental Health Court is “Saving Lives”
Monday, 25 January 2016
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,
- Published in Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment Courts, Bermuda
Court program for drug addicts helping mostly white males, report finds
Wednesday, 23 December 2015
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
- Published in Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment Courts, Canada
Despite Unclear Future, the Drug Court Pushes On
Wednesday, 05 August 2015
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
- Published in Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment Courts, Ireland
Costa Rican judicial reform bill would create specialized drug courts
Thursday, 25 June 2015
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
- Published in Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment Courts, Costa Rica
Inside the secret court that helps victims of drug abuse keep their families together
Saturday, 16 May 2015
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
- Published in Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment Courts, England
Drug court proposal for the ACT has ample merit
Friday, 01 May 2015
In a week when drug trafficking loomed large in the public consciousness and there was renewed discussion about the desirability of countries like Indonesia softening their hardline stance on drugs, it was easy to overlook the reality that such arguments have raged on and off for years. Indeed, since Richard Nixon declared war on drugs in 1971 in
- Published in Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment Courts, Australia