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A Mississippi pitch for drug courts and getting smarter on crime and punishment

By Douglas A. Berman

Writing here in the Clarion-Ledger, a state judge (and former state senator) makes a strong pitch for drug courts in Mississippi.  Here is part of the pitch:Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant, while serving as state auditor, released a report from his office which concluded, in part, that the drug court systems are "an effective community-based strategy to reduce drug use and crime, generate cost savings at the local and state level and allow statewide exchange of information between Circuit Court districts." That report estimated that Mississippi could save about $5.4 million dollars annually based upon merely 500 participants going into a statewide drug court system instead of being housed in the state Department of Corrections. By the way, that was not a typographical error...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on July 06, 2008 (boomark / email).