On April 20 of this year I attended the drug court which is located in the Erie County Courthouse. The Drug Court is intended to promote healthy and law-abiding behavior for its participants. It acts as an alternative for jail and an individual is free to live in the community as long he or she participates in all services, along with being subject to random drug testing. The court room consists of a judge, lawyers, probation officers, and counselors who access each participants progress through the program. This specific Treatment Court has an informal feel to it, because from time to time all of the participants are asked to give a round of applause to each who stands in front of the judge. Because of its informal approach each participant …show more content…
The judge displayed compassion and empathy for each person and seemed very concerned about each person. He listened to probation officers and counselors on what they have to say about the person in question. Based on that information he made his decision to promote individual to the next level or to keep at the same. In addition, the counselors and probation officers were honest in assessing people and gave suggestions about their success and improvements. They also presented some ways how to do better or congratulated individuals on their success. I think that this opportunity for substance abusers to prove that they can be successful members of the society by going through all the necessary steps required by the Drug Court is very encouraging. It seemed that this program made them open their eyes and realize their position in life. They understand something must be changed and this Treatment Court is a good opportunity to do so. The judge is ultimate decision maker who looks at the individual and sees the progress. It is his discretion that decides one's future, because he has the power to keep that person in the program or incarcerate. He ways all the different aspects of each case, listens to counselors, and single handily deliberates