When justice can mean drug treatment, not jail
Last summer, I sat in a Houston courtroom and witnessed the future of justice reform and innovation. It was graduation day for the STAR Drug Court. The room was overflowing with friends and family. Balloons and flowers lined the walls. The bailiff called, “All rise,” and just as in courthouses across the country, the crowd stood and the judges entered. But this was different. This was a community celebration of lives transformed.
One by one, the graduates shook hands with the judges and received their graduation certificates. Then they turned to the audience and spoke about their dreams for the future. One young woman summed up the day perfectly.
“I never imagined I would be where I am now,” she said. “My family did not give up on me. This court did not give up on me. I used to live with fear and shame, now I have hope.”
The crowd cheered, and she stepped into the embrace of her teenage son.
Without STAR, which stands for Success Through Addiction Recovery, her life could have been very different. An estimated 85 percent of the U.S. prison population either meets the criteria for a substance use disorder or was incarcerated for a drug crime. Without treatment, many of these individuals will continue a cycle of addiction and criminal activity.
To stop this revolving door, the justice system must take a public health approach. And that’s what’s happening right here in Houston. It’s what’s happening at the court I helped establish in Gary, Ind. in 1996. And it’s happening, too, at more than 4,000 other treatment courts across the country.
Treatment courts bring together the public health community and the court system to ensure access to lifesaving medications and evidencebased treatment. They work with law enforcement and community supervision to ensure accountability and compliance with the program requirements, and they build community partnerships to assist with employment, education, housing and family reunification.
For 30 years the National Association of Drug Court Professionals has led the movement to implement, expand, research and fund treatment courts. We’ve helped treatment courts evolve to serve populations including parents in the family court system, veterans with untreated mental health conditions, tribal communities, impaired drivers and at-risk juveniles.
In June, we convened 7,000 public health and public safety leaders from across the country for four days of training and education in Houston. Among them were 175 treatment court alumni now giving back and working in the treatment court field.
Just before that meeting in Houston, we officially changed our group’s name to “All Rise” — a name that evokes a justice system where accountability and compassion coexist.
When the justice system responds to meet one of the most pressing issues of our time, when communities embrace a more humane approach, and when just one person rises out of addiction and finds recovery, we All Rise.