Meagan

Lots of ppl are pro-drug court, incl. some ppl who graduated DC who only offered help w/SUD once charged w/a crime. I get that because of how we’ve built our systems thus far, some folks only have access to resources this way. It’s wrong.

Also in favor: prosecutors who feel they’ve helped change ppls’ lives, judges who feel better @ their jobs b/c they’re not just grinding people through the system, ppl who have witnessed the new hope at drug court graduations

I get all that. Our criminal system is designed to punish not build people up. It is absolutely devastating to sit in court and see how “justice” is done in our names. The dehumanization. The despair. Drug courts can feel, by comparison, humane.

The thing about drug courts, is that they treat substance use as a problem to be solved, to be punished out of people. They still trade on myths of personal responsibility when entire communities and safety nets have been decimated.

BUT since we do have drug courts, let’s turn back to the article. It raises hugely important questions, starting with: WHERE IS THE DATA?! We spend so much money on these programs but we’re not carefully tracking what we do with it.

What is the race/gender breakdown of ppl eligible vs ppl who gets in? What is the race/gender breakdown of who is rejected? Who has authority to accept/reject and how is bias playing out there?

What sanctions for positive urine tests/other violations of conditions of released are used by the courts, and on which defendants? When ppl “succeed” in drug court, what supports do they have in place? Do ppl who “fail” have the same supports?

Drug courts play an important role in the conversation of decriminalizing drugs because they show judges and prosecutors beginning to imagine a different way forward. But we shouldn’t limit our imaginations to what courts can do!

Let’s think about the resources that drug courts use, and how we might use those resources in our communities providing housing, food, medical care, child care, trauma care, etc.