Drug Court Case Study

In 1989, officials in Miami-Dade County, Florida established the nation’s first drug court. This special court was designed to bring drug treatment more fully into the criminal justice system, treating offenders with a history of drug abuse for their addiction, while simultaneously ensuring supervision, and sanctions when needed, from the courts. The movement for an alternative court to sentence drug offenders emerged from the rapidly evolving reality that the nation’s decision to address drug abuse through law enforcement mechanisms would continue to pose significant challenges for the criminal court system. In 2004, 53% of persons in state prison were identified with a drug dependence or abuse problem, but only 15% were receiving professional

(http://www.sentencingproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Drug-Courts-A-Review-of-the-Evidence.pdf) Since 1989 the number of Drug Courts have risen significantly due to the realization of the need for treatment with offenders that have a history of drug abuse. There is a total of 3,133 drug courts in the United States today with 1,561 of them being solely adult drug courts. (http://www.ndcrc.org/content/how-many-drug-courts-are-there). The drug court movement reflects the desire to shift the emphasis from attempting to combat drug crimes by reducing the supply of drugs into addressing the demand for drugs through the treatment of addiction. Drug courts use the criminal justice system to address addiction through a set of social and legal services instead of solely relying upon sanctions through incarceration or probation which have been shown to not be

TASC began during the 1970s as a criminal justice effort in response to the rise of substance-involved offenders revolving through the criminal justice system. TASC is considered to be a type of probation that is closely monitored. Under “regular” probation, a conviction can stay on your record forever. However, under TASC an individual who completes the program will be eligible for the charge to be lowered or completely dropped. Understanding the differences between drug, TASC and regular probation is important because it can mean the difference between having a clean record or being permanently labeled with a criminal conviction. Just as in the drug court system TASC applicants will undergo an assessment to see if he/she is eligible for the program. Three main aspects to ensure eligibility are the person must be 18yrs. or older, have current non-violent offense charges and must have substance use disorders that require clinical intervention. The offenders must be willing to enter treatment for a minimum of 12-18 months to participate. If a person is found eligible than the TASC case management system can track and assist the person through the complete criminal justice process. The TASC program is very individualized and includes a detailed assessment and development of a written plan designed to address the treatment needs of each individual. At this point