Drug Court vs. Incarceration - 2165 Words

Rebeca Manns ENGL 112 Argumentative Paper September 2, 2012 Drug Court vs. Incarceration Drug addiction has increased drastically across America in the last fifty years. Non-violent drug offenders fill our jails and prisons. Taxpayer dollars are put into a prison system that is proving to be counter-productive. Recidivism rates are high. Drug Court is an alternative to incarceration that offers rehabilitation to criminal offenders. In drug court, the traditional functions of the U.S. justice system are profoundly altered. The judge is the leader of a treatment team. The judge makes all final decisions and holds a range of discretion unprecedented in the courtroom, including the type of treatment mandated and how to address†¦show more content†¦Noble County started a drug court program in December 2006. This program has allowed an effective sentencing alternative to the courts of Noble County. Honorable Judge Michael Kramer has presided over the program since its inception. Judge Kramer states that the mission of his drug court progr am is to â€Å"try to help people get clean while avoiding criminal behavior†. He also reports that more than 72 percent of those who are accepted into Noble County Drug Court Program are able to successfully complete all requirements dictated by the court in order to graduate from the program. Defendants who complete the drug court program and remain arrest-free for six months following their graduation, have all charges dropped and their arrest records are expunged. Judge Kramer explained the importance of recent ruling by the Indiana Supreme Court which clarifies the rules of judicial conduct related to drug court programs. This ruling outlines the regulations which help keep each member of the judicial team separate, so that no one has the appearance of being influenced or biased (Kramer). The United States Supreme Court has also made recent changes regarding judicial conduct so that each of the judicial members involved in the drug court system are able to work together, in the best interest of the offender (National Institute of Justice, para8). The taxpayer’s return on moneyShow MoreRelatedResponse Paper to Michelle Alexanders The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness743 Words   |  3 PagesCrow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness was written by Michelle Alexander to expose the truth of racial injustice in the system of mass incarceration through the comparison of the racial control during the Jim Crow Era. She reveals how race plays an important role in the American Justice System. 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Statistics show that there is racial disparities in many decisions made in the criminal he justice system. One example is the â€Å"driving while black,† shows the potential abuse by law enforcement. According to The New Jim Crow, the Supreme Court has actually granted the police license to discriminate, it is not advertised because they know that the public will not accept this, it is left unsaid. Propositions racial variations have denied ethnic minorities of their most essential social equalityRead MorePrison Overcrowding And The United States994 Words   |  4 PagesPrison Overcrowding In the United States, there’s two types of incarcerations: jail vs prison and federal vs state. The key difference between all prison systems is the size, location, and quantity of inmates and the crime rate in each area. 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