click for slideshow

The New York Times has an excellent article about punishment versus treatment:

“In Seattle, as in drug courts across the country, the stern face of criminal justice is being redrawn, and emotions are often on the surface. Experts say drug courts have been the country’s fastest-spreading innovation in criminal justice, giving arrested addicts a chance to avoid prison by agreeing to stringent oversight and addiction treatment. Recent studies show drug courts are one of the few initiatives that reduce recidivism — on average by 8 percent to 10 percent nationally and as high as 26 percent in New York State — and save taxpayer money.”

The article and slideshow have moving stories about several people’s triumphs over addiction.

We posted an earlier story that looks at the strengths and minuses of treatment and the struggle to get funding for such programs.

On Nov. 4, California voters will decide on Proposition 5, known as the Nonviolent Offender Rehabilitation Act of 2008, which would expand and build upon Proposition 36–the one that funded Delino’s treatment– with an infusion of $385 million a year in state funding to pay for adult treatment and $65 million for youth programs. Read the article to get a better sense of the controversy around this proposition and watch video below in which Delino talks about his bouts with treatment and how he finally became sober in 2004:

SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS: Have you turned to a treatment program to help a family member who was going in and out of jail? Did the program help?

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