DWI Courts and DWI/Drug Courts:

The long history of positive outcomes for drug courts begs the question: If drug court programs can reduce recidivism among the populations they now serve, could the drug court model, applied to impaired drivers be as successful?

Drug Courts: A National Phenomenon

FFor more than a decade, a quiet revolution has occurred within the criminal justice system. Dade County , Florida established the first drug court in the United States . Today, more than 1,900 drug courts can be found across the country with hundreds more in the planning stage (Huddleston, Freeman-Wilson & Marlowe, 2005). Although program specifics and populations vary depending upon community priorities and resources, the objective of every drug court is the same: to engage defendants charged with drug-related offenses in comprehensive, enduring programs that integrate adjudication, substance abuse treatment and close supervision.

All drug courts are part of an innovative judicial model whereby offenders are held accountable for their actions and afforded the tools they need to break the patterns of drug abuse that so damage their lives, as well as the lives of others. The major goals of drug courts have been established with the benefit of both offenders and the communities in which they live in mind. Typically, these goals are to reduce drug use and associated criminal behavior by engaging and retaining drug-involved offenders in treatment and intensive supervision; to concentrate staff expertise about drug cases into a single courtroom; to address other defendant needs; and to remove drug cases from traditional courtrooms, freeing them to adjudicate non-drug cases.