Seattle gets specialized federal drug court
SEATTLE (AP) - The federal court in Seattle is one of just a few around the country experimenting with something state courts have been doing for two decades - specialized drug programs.
U.S. District Judge Ricardo S. Martinez, who helped start King County's drug court program when he was a Superior Court judge in the early 1990s, says the new federal pilot project will help some low-level defendants whose crimes were motivated by addiction get treatment and avoid a felony conviction while saving the government incarceration costs.
"People have this idea that federal court only handles the cartel guys," Martinez said. "We're not going to have that guy in this program."
Under the program, defendants will enter a conditional guilty plea, and if they comply with a one- to two-year treatment program, their conviction will be vacated.
Martinez worked with the U.S. attorney's office, federal public defender's office and U.S. Probation in coming up with criteria for defendants to be eligible for the program, including that they not have violent or sexual offenses in their past; have no more than two prior felonies on their record; and that any mental health issues be manageable.
Defendants must appear before Martinez at least once a month and come clean about their criminal conduct, with immunity granted for any admissions they make,
The first three defendants selected to participate are scheduled to enter their pleas on Friday. They include a Tacoma man accused in a conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine, and a woman accused of committing bank fraud and identity theft to maintain her meth habit. The third case remains under seal.
Martinez says the program is starting small, and he only expects about 10 participants in the first year. Federal courts in Los Angeles, Illinois and South Carolina have similar programs.
Karen Redmond, a spokeswoman for the federal Administrative Office of the Courts, said federal courts are taking new approaches to drug-motivated crimes as judges such as Martinez, who helped develop the drug-court model in the state system long ago, are elevated to the federal bench.
Seattle U.S. Attorney Jenny Durkan was a defense lawyer in the early 1990s and also helped set up the King County drug court, the 12th in the nation.
More than 1,770 people have graduated from King County's drug court since it was launched in 1994.
One obstacle to adopting such programs federally was the Justice Department's U.S. Attorneys Manual, which until March 2011 banned prosecutors from agreeing to pretrial diversion for defendants with addiction problems.
In a speech in New York this year, Deputy Attorney General James Cole noted that dozens of people - 90 percent of participating defendants - had graduated from the federal program in Illinois, saving nearly $5 million in incarceration costs.
"This is a novel approach, but I think it's long overdue," Durkan said. "If you can intervene and have the type of real treatment the person needs, you can make sure you protect society and rehabilitate the individual."
U.S. District Judge Ricardo S. Martinez, who helped start King County's drug court program when he was a Superior Court judge in the early 1990s, says the new federal pilot project will help some low-level defendants whose crimes were motivated by addiction get treatment and avoid a felony conviction while saving the government incarceration costs.
"People have this idea that federal court only handles the cartel guys," Martinez said. "We're not going to have that guy in this program."
Under the program, defendants will enter a conditional guilty plea, and if they comply with a one- to two-year treatment program, their conviction will be vacated.
Martinez worked with the U.S. attorney's office, federal public defender's office and U.S. Probation in coming up with criteria for defendants to be eligible for the program, including that they not have violent or sexual offenses in their past; have no more than two prior felonies on their record; and that any mental health issues be manageable.
Defendants must appear before Martinez at least once a month and come clean about their criminal conduct, with immunity granted for any admissions they make,
The first three defendants selected to participate are scheduled to enter their pleas on Friday. They include a Tacoma man accused in a conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine, and a woman accused of committing bank fraud and identity theft to maintain her meth habit. The third case remains under seal.
Martinez says the program is starting small, and he only expects about 10 participants in the first year. Federal courts in Los Angeles, Illinois and South Carolina have similar programs.
Karen Redmond, a spokeswoman for the federal Administrative Office of the Courts, said federal courts are taking new approaches to drug-motivated crimes as judges such as Martinez, who helped develop the drug-court model in the state system long ago, are elevated to the federal bench.
Seattle U.S. Attorney Jenny Durkan was a defense lawyer in the early 1990s and also helped set up the King County drug court, the 12th in the nation.
More than 1,770 people have graduated from King County's drug court since it was launched in 1994.
One obstacle to adopting such programs federally was the Justice Department's U.S. Attorneys Manual, which until March 2011 banned prosecutors from agreeing to pretrial diversion for defendants with addiction problems.
In a speech in New York this year, Deputy Attorney General James Cole noted that dozens of people - 90 percent of participating defendants - had graduated from the federal program in Illinois, saving nearly $5 million in incarceration costs.
"This is a novel approach, but I think it's long overdue," Durkan said. "If you can intervene and have the type of real treatment the person needs, you can make sure you protect society and rehabilitate the individual."
The feds are trying desperately to figure out how to deal with new laws in WA and CO. This should be tragically hilarious...
@JLS1950 This has nothing to do with the marijuana laws. You think Federal Courts introduce new programs that fast?
Have no jurisdiction to charge drug users in Washington. But with all the decreases in civil liberties protection they keep moving into areas reserved for state jurisdiction. Plea bargains are all the feds do anyways. No one fights in federal court because the feds have all the power in a court room and the expense to fight is tremendous. Ask Tommy Chong.
we need to help uor brothers an sisters and stop looking to the government for answers, they only have one purpose
take from one ang give it to another. its called personel responsibility
Sounds like a great idea, just as long as they're not promoting that 12 step non-sense.
@IslandAtheist You mean the most successful substance abuse program EVER created? And still the best way to ensure long-term sobriety? If you think that it's a religious organization you are misinformed.
Â
And if this is anything like the King County Drug Court then they will be promoting AA and NA.
If it saves money and provides treatment then this sounds like a good idea. Most of these people would get locked up for at most a couple years and then let out with no other options except repeating their prior offenses. Most of these people are probably just let right out anyway because there isn't room in our jails.
In addition how about providing TREATMENT for those seeking it before they commit a crime? Yes, reward the poor criminal over helping those who seek help. Just like next to free medical, dental and vision to prisoners over helping the homeless etc.! BS.
How about going to A.A or N.A. etc.? If you want help it's out there. Why allow the courts into your life for something you should be responsible for? Of course a criminal will take treatment over incarceration... whatever.
 @Funky-Munky
 While AA and NA have helped a great number of people beat their addictions, for some it's nit really treatment. They just swap one addiction for another, in this case becoming so wrapped up in the program that they begin to neglect their other responsibilities. The proper approach is monitored inpatient treatment at a qualified facility to identify and understand the reasons behind the addiction (which generally have some psychological basis behind them) with frequent followup visits with a specially trained addiction counselor upon release in addition to AA or NA meetings. Only attending meetings is kind of like putting a band aid on a deep cut and not bothering to get stitches. It may appear like it's helpful, but in the end it's probably going to do more harm than good.
 @Mikeftm Thanks for taking the time to post.... I agree and disagree with your observations...... Bottom line for addicts you must want to stay clean and not be forced by the courts into being clean.....
 @James Michael Scriven You are 100% correct.  You do have to want it.  I have watched extended family members go through the court system and only do the rehab thing to stay out of jail, not because they wanted to actually turn their life around.  Guess what?  They wound up back where they started from.  However, one of these family members did finally decide he didn't want to live that life anymore and is now married and has a steady job after completing his program.  Congrats to you!
 @Funky-Munky  @Mikeftm It sounds like the court is trying to choose these participants carefully and I'm sure that their willingness to beat the addiction does have some bearing on that.  At least I would hope so, but this is the feds we're talking about.
 @James Michael Scriven Congratulations.... I am proud of you. Keep up the good work one day at a time.... :D)
@Funky-Munky @Mikeftm I did the rehab thing and 12 steps and intensive outpatient treatment for a year after inpatient treatment for 30 days. This saved my life & many of my associates from losing an asset. I did this 100% voluntarily and it worked 100%. You DO have to want it. It took me 25 years to get there, but I did it, I'm alive and I am a grateful recovering drug addict.