| NEW YORK - The Unified Court System announces sweeping new
reforms to provide court-mandated substance abuse treatment to nonviolent
drug-addicted offenders throughout the state. These reforms are designed
to address the staggering 400 percent increase over the last two decades
in the number of narcotics cases confronting New York's courts. The court
system's new addiction-focused strategy is based on recommendations of
the Commission on Drugs and the Courts, a statewide panel convened by Chief
Judge Judith S. Kaye to study the courts' handling of drug-related cases
in New York. Today the Commission released an extensive 126-page report
detailing its investigation over the past year.
The new program will make New York's court system the first in the nation
to adopt a comprehensive systemic strategy to combat the overwhelming impact
of substance abuse on court caseloads. It will include across-the-board
drug screening for criminal cases, court-mandated substance abuse treatment
for nonviolent defendants and parents charged in Family Court child neglect
cases, and the creation of specialized courts that will exclusively target
persistent misdemeanor offenders. When the program is fully operational,
the court system estimates that it will put nearly 10,000 additional defendants
into court-mandated treatment and will generate over $500 million a year
in incarceration and long-term taxpayer savings.
The court system's new initiative deals solely with nonviolent substance-abusing
defendants (not drug dealers or violent offenders) and features the
following key elements:
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Statewide screening of criminal defendants and parents charged with neglect
in Family Court cases to identify nonviolent addicts eligible for treatment
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In-depth assessment and drug testing of those eligible and willing to participate
in treatment in exchange for a favorable case disposition
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Diversion to appropriate treatment in drug courts or prosecutor-sponsored
programs
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Judicial supervision and close monitoring of addicted offenders throughout
the treatment process
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Strict systems of sanctions and rewards to motivate defendants to succeed
in treatment
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Drug courts in every metropolitan area and jurisdiction of the state
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Specialized courts in New York City to handle persistent misdemeanor offenders
(statistics show that these offenders very often are substance abusers)
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Probation Violation Courts for both adults and juveniles throughout New
York City, which will provide more effective monitoring of these defendants
who typically abuse drugs
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Family Treatment Courts, which handle child neglect cases that are based
on the substance-abusing behavior of a parent, throughout New York State
(These courts, currently operating in Manhattan and Suffolk County, have
been shown to reduce the length of foster care stays from four years to
one.)
Chief Judge Kaye said, "It is an eye-opening statistic that approximately
75 percent of all defendants in New York City test positive for drugs at
the time of arrest. In processing over a million criminal cases a year,
the court system is seeking to end the unproductive recycling of
immense numbers of drug cases, which have pushed to the limit our already
overburdened court dockets. In this regard, we are beginning immediately
to implement a new program that addresses drug-related offenses on a systemic
level statewide, concentrating on achieving the most cost-effective and
long-term outcomes for both the public and substance-abusing defendants,
while at the same time safeguarding public safety. The Commission on Drugs
and the Courts' recommendations and report - the most exhaustive study on
the impact of drugs on the justice system ever conducted in the country - have
provided us with a blueprint with which to proceed, and I thank Commission
Chair Fiske and all of the Commission members for their most thorough and
insightful work."
Chair Robert B. Fiske, Jr., the former U.S. Attorney for New York's
Southern District and a partner with the law firm of Davis Polk & Wardwell,
stated, "I am honored to have been able to head this inquiry into such
a critical area of public policy and am particularly gratified to know
that the Commission's recommendations are being fully adopted by the courts.
Cooperation among all sectors of the justice system is essential in such
a project, and I encourage the district attorneys, defense bar and treatment
community from around the state to work together in this regard.
I would like to thank my co-members on the Commission for their dedication
and diligence, without which this important endeavor would not have been
possible."
Chief Administrative Judge Jonathan Lippman said, "Under the court's
new statewide court-mandated treatment program, the emphasis will be on
early intervention - attacking substance abuse issues from the onset of a
case, before they tax the resources of the courts and the public. This
major new initiative represents a sea change in the courts' handling of
drug-related cases and puts New York State at the forefront as a national
leader in this critical area of justice. The end result of our efforts
will be to reduce recidivism and costs and build a new architecture to
tackle the modern-day scourge of drug addiction."
The New York State Commission on Drugs and the Courts was established
in October 1999 by Chief Judge Kaye to study how drug cases are handled
by the courts and to determine whether changes could be made to more effectively
process these cases. It was chaired by Robert B. Fiske, Jr., and consisted
of judges, prosecutors, defense lawyers, academics, substance abuse experts
and agency representatives from across the state. The roster of Commission
members is attached.
The Commission's report, "Confronting the Cycle of Addiction and Recidivism,"
can be accessed from the Unified Court System's website at www.courts.state.ny.us
or by calling the UCS Communications Office at (212) 428-2500.
Commission on Drugs and the Courts - Member List
Chair: Robert B. Fiske, Jr.
Davis Polk & Wardwell
Hon. John J. Ark
Justice, New York State Supreme Court, Monroe County
Stanley S. Arkin
Arkin Schaffer & Kaplan, LLP
Hon. Phylis Skloot Bamberger
Judge, New York State Supreme Court, Bronx County
Steven R. Belenko, Ph.D.
Senior Research Associate, National Center on Addiction and Substance
Abuse at Columbia University
Bridget G. Brennan
Special Narcotics Prosecutor, New York City Office of the Special Narcotics
Prosecutor
Paul J. Browne
Senior Advisor to the Commissioner, United States Customs Service
Zachary W. Carter
Dorsey & Whitney, LLP
Hon. Frank J. Clark
District Attorney, Erie County
Terrence M. Connors
Connors & Vilardo
Hon. Janet DiFiore
Judge, Westchester County Court
Monica Drinane
Attorney-in-Charge, Juvenile Rights Division, Legal Aid Society of
New York
John Feinblatt
Director, Center for Court Innovation
Hon. Jo Ann Ferdinand
Presiding Judge, Brooklyn Treatment Court
Hon. William J. Fitzpatrick
District Attorney, Onondaga County
Michael P. Jacobson
Professor, John Jay College of Criminal Justice
Barry M. Kamins
Flamhaft Levy Kamins & Hirsch
James M. Kindler
Chief Assistant District Attorney, New York County
Roderick C. Lankler
Lankler Siffert & Wohl
Michele Maxian
Attorney-in-Charge, Criminal Defense Division, Legal Aid Society of
New York
Paul S. Miller
Executive Vice President & General Counsel, Pfizer Inc.
Hon. Juanita Bing Newton
Deputy Chief Administrative Judge for Justice Initiatives, State of
New York
Edward J. Nowak
Public Defender, Monroe County
Mitchell S. Rosenthal, M.D.
President, Phoenix House Foundation, Inc.
Hon. Robert T. Russell, Jr.
Presiding Judge, Buffalo Treatment Court
Hon. Gloria Sosa-Lintner
Judge, Family Court of New York City; Presiding Judge, Manhattan Family
Treatment Court
Anne J. Swern
Deputy District Attorney, Kings County
Michael Whiteman
Whiteman Osterman & Hanna |
