News
Judges and Judiciary
Feb. 22, 1995
Federal County Budget Cuts Affect Services of Drug Court
By B.J. Palermo
Special to the Daily Journal
Leaders of the growing drug court movement were encouraged 2/16 by a turnout of about 100 participants to their first countywide seminar.
But the day-long workshop at the Los Angeles Police Academy took place last week in the shadow of federal and county funding cuts that could undermine the effort to rehabilitate drug offenders.
The revised Crime Bill passed by the House of Representatives last Tuesday excludes the $1 billion that had been earmarked for drug courts across the nation over the next six years.
At the same time, all Los Angeles County departments have been told to trim their budgets by 8 percent for the rest of this fiscal year and 20 percent next year.
The county's budget crisis, a possible $640 million deficit next year, could eliminate the Probation Department's pre-trial services, a mainstay of drug courts.
'If they eliminate pretrial services, I would have difficulty running my drug court. It would be a dramatic body blow," said Municipal Court Judge Stephen A. Marcus, who presides over the pilot program in downtown Los Angeles.
Budget cuts also would limit the number of participants in his program and could prevent the opening of new drug courts, he said.
'I depend very strongly on probation to do pretrial reports,' Marcus said. 'Drug court is funded and supported by several county agencies, and each one cut will dramatically affect the court.'
Juvenile Court Presiding Judge Richard Montes said the 20 percent to 28 percent cut expected in the Probation Department also would greatly affect his court and could dash prospects for the juvenile drug court that has been under consideration.
'We are studying the possibility of whether some kind of model can be constructed for drug court in the juvenile system and are looking at funding for services that would have to be provided,' Montes said. 'But a lot depends on where the county is going.'
Nevertheless, Marcus and other drug court leaders were upbeat in the combination pep rally and training session for judges, prosecutors, defenders and other justice system personnel from 11 of the county's ??? 24 municipal courts.
'I think the $29 million in this year's congressional budget will be there,' said Judge Jeffrey Tauber, who started the drug court in the Oakland-Piedmont-Emeryville Judicial District.
'And I don't think you need a lot of money to do this,' said Tauber, who heads the National Association of Drug Court Professionals. 'You may not have what Steve Marcus has in downtown Los Angeles. But you can build a program that's better than what you have now.'
Marcus' 9-month-old court has become the model for the experimental program in which 200 drug-possession defendants at a time can undergo a year of court-monitored treatment and testing while their criminal charges are suspended. If they complete the program, which includes remedial education and job training, the charges are dropped. They are prosecuted if they fail.
The Rio Hondo Judicial District in El Monte also has established a drug court, a smaller scale version of the Los Angeles program.
Drug courts are being hailed as the best way to break the expensive and non-productive cycle of arrest, prosecution, jail and rearrest for addicts who have not committed serious crimes and are willing to participate.
In the beginning, the drug court concept met considerable political resistance from those who prefer traditional punishment for substance abuse.
'We are comfortable in our conventional roles. We've got it down pat,' said Los Angeles Public Defender Michael Judge. 'The problem is there's no permanent impact on the crime problem when we handle it that way.
"All we've done is make it easy for those inside the system, without accomplishing anything of a lasting nature. Eventually we're going to have to get the message out: We're effectively dealing with the problem of addiction so that crime will be reduced. That's it, in a nutshell,' he said.
Traditional diversion programs have not succeeded in curbing addiction and its attendant crime, participants said.
'I don't think anybody involved in the criminal justice system has any notion we've done an effective job in dealing with controlled substances,' said Assistant District Attorney Frank E. Sundstedt Jr.
'Defendants charged with drug offenses have received the least amount of attention. When you have so many cases on your calendar, [the diversion program] has only enabled you to get rid of a case so you could focus on something else,' he said.
Many of the judges, prosecutors, defenders and justice system workers at the session came from branch courts that are interested in establishing drug court programs. But much of that interest was sparked by the availability of Crime Bill money.
Superior Court Judge Richard Neidorf is slated to preside over the Santa Monica drug court. 'When we heard federal money might come, we started to organize so we'd be ready,' he said. 'We have a lot of homeless drug addicts in Santa Monica committing all kinds of crimes and making the quality of life go down. But so far there isn't any money for Santa Monica.'
Because testing and treatment - in the form of counseling, group therapy and acupuncture - is the major expense, establishing a drug court requires finding such a provider. The downtown Los Angeles program, which started with about $225,000 in funding, has succeeded mainly because of the largesse of the non-profit Impact Drug and Alcohol Treatment Center in Pasadena.
One possibility being considered for the Westside is a drug court that would rotate among Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, Malibu, West Los Angeles and Culver City, said Robert Mimura, executive director of the Countywide Criminal Justice Coordinating Committee.
Mimura, who organized the workshop, said he has seen the drug court momentum grow significantly in the last six months.
'Three or four years ago when I began talking to people, there was no interest,' he said. 'It takes a lot of judicial leadership to get people to the table. But now they're taking the first step; they're asking the questions.'
Drug court leaders such as Mimura, Tauber, Marcus and Rio Hondo Municipal Court Judge Rudy Diaz concede the funding outlook is grim. But they are encouraged by one concession in the latest version of the Crime Bill.
Although Republicans in the House of Representatives canceled the specific drug court allocation, lobbyists for the National Association of Drug Court Professionals persuaded the legislators to include drug courts as a recommended use of crime prevention block grants to the states.
'Generally, courts don't do well in getting block grant money. In the past, we just basically fell out of the bidding,' said Diaz, president of the California Judges Association. 'By incorporating drug courts as a program that ought to be funded, Congress has given us a boost.'
The uncertainty of federal funding and the certainty of county budget cuts mean drug courts must depend on creative management, making do with less. 'We can even do without pretrial services if we have to,' Diaz said. 'We're going to do these things no matter what it takes."
Special to the Daily Journal
Leaders of the growing drug court movement were encouraged 2/16 by a turnout of about 100 participants to their first countywide seminar.
But the day-long workshop at the Los Angeles Police Academy took place last week in the shadow of federal and county funding cuts that could undermine the effort to rehabilitate drug offenders.
The revised Crime Bill passed by the House of Representatives last Tuesday excludes the $1 billion that had been earmarked for drug courts across the nation over the next six years.
At the same time, all Los Angeles County departments have been told to trim their budgets by 8 percent for the rest of this fiscal year and 20 percent next year.
The county's budget crisis, a possible $640 million deficit next year, could eliminate the Probation Department's pre-trial services, a mainstay of drug courts.
'If they eliminate pretrial services, I would have difficulty running my drug court. It would be a dramatic body blow," said Municipal Court Judge Stephen A. Marcus, who presides over the pilot program in downtown Los Angeles.
Budget cuts also would limit the number of participants in his program and could prevent the opening of new drug courts, he said.
'I depend very strongly on probation to do pretrial reports,' Marcus said. 'Drug court is funded and supported by several county agencies, and each one cut will dramatically affect the court.'
Juvenile Court Presiding Judge Richard Montes said the 20 percent to 28 percent cut expected in the Probation Department also would greatly affect his court and could dash prospects for the juvenile drug court that has been under consideration.
'We are studying the possibility of whether some kind of model can be constructed for drug court in the juvenile system and are looking at funding for services that would have to be provided,' Montes said. 'But a lot depends on where the county is going.'
Nevertheless, Marcus and other drug court leaders were upbeat in the combination pep rally and training session for judges, prosecutors, defenders and other justice system personnel from 11 of the county's ??? 24 municipal courts.
'I think the $29 million in this year's congressional budget will be there,' said Judge Jeffrey Tauber, who started the drug court in the Oakland-Piedmont-Emeryville Judicial District.
'And I don't think you need a lot of money to do this,' said Tauber, who heads the National Association of Drug Court Professionals. 'You may not have what Steve Marcus has in downtown Los Angeles. But you can build a program that's better than what you have now.'
Marcus' 9-month-old court has become the model for the experimental program in which 200 drug-possession defendants at a time can undergo a year of court-monitored treatment and testing while their criminal charges are suspended. If they complete the program, which includes remedial education and job training, the charges are dropped. They are prosecuted if they fail.
The Rio Hondo Judicial District in El Monte also has established a drug court, a smaller scale version of the Los Angeles program.
Drug courts are being hailed as the best way to break the expensive and non-productive cycle of arrest, prosecution, jail and rearrest for addicts who have not committed serious crimes and are willing to participate.
In the beginning, the drug court concept met considerable political resistance from those who prefer traditional punishment for substance abuse.
'We are comfortable in our conventional roles. We've got it down pat,' said Los Angeles Public Defender Michael Judge. 'The problem is there's no permanent impact on the crime problem when we handle it that way.
"All we've done is make it easy for those inside the system, without accomplishing anything of a lasting nature. Eventually we're going to have to get the message out: We're effectively dealing with the problem of addiction so that crime will be reduced. That's it, in a nutshell,' he said.
Traditional diversion programs have not succeeded in curbing addiction and its attendant crime, participants said.
'I don't think anybody involved in the criminal justice system has any notion we've done an effective job in dealing with controlled substances,' said Assistant District Attorney Frank E. Sundstedt Jr.
'Defendants charged with drug offenses have received the least amount of attention. When you have so many cases on your calendar, [the diversion program] has only enabled you to get rid of a case so you could focus on something else,' he said.
Many of the judges, prosecutors, defenders and justice system workers at the session came from branch courts that are interested in establishing drug court programs. But much of that interest was sparked by the availability of Crime Bill money.
Superior Court Judge Richard Neidorf is slated to preside over the Santa Monica drug court. 'When we heard federal money might come, we started to organize so we'd be ready,' he said. 'We have a lot of homeless drug addicts in Santa Monica committing all kinds of crimes and making the quality of life go down. But so far there isn't any money for Santa Monica.'
Because testing and treatment - in the form of counseling, group therapy and acupuncture - is the major expense, establishing a drug court requires finding such a provider. The downtown Los Angeles program, which started with about $225,000 in funding, has succeeded mainly because of the largesse of the non-profit Impact Drug and Alcohol Treatment Center in Pasadena.
One possibility being considered for the Westside is a drug court that would rotate among Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, Malibu, West Los Angeles and Culver City, said Robert Mimura, executive director of the Countywide Criminal Justice Coordinating Committee.
Mimura, who organized the workshop, said he has seen the drug court momentum grow significantly in the last six months.
'Three or four years ago when I began talking to people, there was no interest,' he said. 'It takes a lot of judicial leadership to get people to the table. But now they're taking the first step; they're asking the questions.'
Drug court leaders such as Mimura, Tauber, Marcus and Rio Hondo Municipal Court Judge Rudy Diaz concede the funding outlook is grim. But they are encouraged by one concession in the latest version of the Crime Bill.
Although Republicans in the House of Representatives canceled the specific drug court allocation, lobbyists for the National Association of Drug Court Professionals persuaded the legislators to include drug courts as a recommended use of crime prevention block grants to the states.
'Generally, courts don't do well in getting block grant money. In the past, we just basically fell out of the bidding,' said Diaz, president of the California Judges Association. 'By incorporating drug courts as a program that ought to be funded, Congress has given us a boost.'
The uncertainty of federal funding and the certainty of county budget cuts mean drug courts must depend on creative management, making do with less. 'We can even do without pretrial services if we have to,' Diaz said. 'We're going to do these things no matter what it takes."
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