Shelby County Leading State With Drug Courts

By Representative Cam Ward

            Recently I had the opportunity to participate in a panel discussion at the Alabama Bar Association Conference, on good judicial practices.  It was quite evident from listening to various speakers from across the state that Shelby County is leading the way in solving major overcrowding problems with its drug court program. 

            Currently state studies show that about 85% of child abuse and other criminal cases involve alcohol or drugs.   What is even more disturbing is the fact that these cases are taking up a great number of prison beds that should normally be occupied by violent offenders.  While it is politically popular to talk about “locking them up and throwing away the key” criminal justice, the fact is this mentality only creates overcrowded jails that allow for more violent offenders to go free at the expense of creating space for non-violent first time drug users.  This is an insane correctional system and is not tough on crime, but stupid about crime. Violent criminals should serve their full sentence and not be released because of an overcrowding of non-violent first time offenders.

            Drug courts in Shelby County have shown that by creating an intensive drug abuse program and making those who have a drug abuse problem pay for their treatment you can drastically reduce repeat offenders.  The Shelby County Drug Court currently pays for about 80% of its own cost by requiring drug offenders to pay for their own rehabilitation.  In other words, the court is making the criminal pay for the cost of running this program at the expense of the offender.  Should people who break the law be punished for their crime? Yes.  Should we have a system that works to prevent someone from repeating their crime? Absolutely.  Not only does the drug court mandate personal responsibility, it also provides an avenue for people to clean their lives up.  This system not only frees up prison space for violent offenders, it also assures that those committing violent crimes stay in prison longer as opposed to being released earlier under pressure from courts to reduce jail overcrowding. 

            I have always been an advocate for a tough criminal justice system. While I still believe in the necessity in strong punishment for violent criminals, I also believe we must find a way to deal with the ever growing drug abuse problem in our community and what it is doing to our prison overcrowding.  Many counties throughout the state are now creating drug courts to model the system we have in Shelby County because it works so well and is a smart way to deal with first time drug offenses.  This shows the forward thinking and leadership our county legal system provides for the rest of the state. We should be proud of our judges and the way we are being smart about cleaning up the drug problem in our community and making violent offenders serve their full jail sentence as they should.