Judicial Process in a Drug Court - Research Paper Example

The paper "Judicial Process in a Drug Court" is a great example of an essay on law. Specialized courts are bodies within the government judicial system that deals with one specific issue. An example of such is the drug court. This kind of court deals with offenders of the law, who use drugs wrongly other than the recommended way, or those who use drugs that are considered dangerous and illegal by the law. The offenders can be children especially those from environments that illegal drugs are being sold.

There are high likelihoods that they will be lured one way or the other to abuse these drugs, which may land them in juvenile detention centers (Bouffard, Richardson, & Franklin, 2010). Similarly, the courts also deal with adult offenders.  These courts have programs that test drug content in the bodies of the offenders. Other functions carried out by the courts include supervising of the offenders after rehabilitation by the court and closely monitoring the treatment and recovery from addiction.

If the offenders fail to comply with these measures, they are subjected to more advanced measures. Such measures include more appearances in the court, drug tests done on them more often than usual, and involving them in constructive community-based programs. By completing these procedures successfully, their sentences are reduced, and their visits to the courts are minimized. Additionally, therapy sessions are put in place to counsel the affected where they share and interact with individuals who have the same problem as them (Bouffard, Richardson & Franklin, 2010).

According to research, these courts reduce drug abuse and help the affected not to relapse. They also rehabilitate those people who show the willingness to reform and go back to being productive members of society. As the offenders go through rehabilitation, they are provided with employment opportunities, some who are willing to go back to school are given that chance, and they are provided with the basic needs to help them start over a new life away from drugs (May, 2008). By doing this, the courts ensure that the members are successfully integrated back into the society hence reducing and even ending the use of drugs.

Those responsible for prescribing and selling these drugs are arrested, charged by these courts, and punished accordingly by the law to act as a lesson to potential offenders. Above all, they come together with other drug courts and community-based organizations to offer local support to those freshly integrated back into the society to ensure they feel at home and have a sense of belonging. By doing so, the possibility of relapsing by the affected members becomes very low (Moore, n.d.). The drug courts have proven effective to the society as they help in so many ways.

One is that they significantly reduce crime. Research shows that the majority of the drug court graduates are not arrested for at least two years after being out of the program. This clearly indicates that these programs are very helpful as they have a positive impact on the lives of those who participate in the program. The programs they are put through by these courts have proven to be very effective compared to those given by other criminal courts (May, 2008). For instance, it is very hard to find these post-addicts committing crime as most of them may have done so previously due to the influence of drugs.

Many of them are involved in community projects that are constructive; hence, they have no time to engage in crime. As earlier stated, these courts go as far as offering education to those who may have dropped out of school because of impacts of drugs. Thus, they come out as productive members of the society hence reducing crime rates in the communities (Moore, n.d.).Furthermore, the courts promote compliance by offenders by closely supervising them and holding them accountable for any mistake committed.

This is done mostly when the offenders undergo treatment as most of them usually drop out before the program is over. It has been indicated that offenders who go through treatment in the drug court are likely to recover permanently than those in normal community organizations. This fact is because the courts program is longer and stricter. Due to the prolonged treatment by these courts, many of those addicted to methamphetamine end up recovering from the addiction. This is contrary to other outpatient treatments where many end up relapsing after the treatment (May, 2008).

Consequently, families are reunited after their affected members are integrated back into the society. Most of the offenders are very violent and may end up hurting their family members under the influence of drugs. As they undergo the treatment provided by these drug courts, they are brought back to their usual state and attain clearer judgment; hence, they get along well with their families. There is also the issue of finances whereby the drug users drain their family resources to buy the drugs to sustain their addiction thus leading to conflicts and financial crisis within their families.

Thus, these programs help, as they are held responsible for any cent they use, which enhance understanding and peaceful coexistence between family members and the victims (Moore, n.d.).In conclusion, the existence of these drug courts has helped a lot compared to the traditional judicial system that dealt with general issues, thus, many of the drug offenders came out unchanged after arrest and completion of their term. The specialized nature of the court systems has been positively embraced as most victims end up being productive members of the society after going through the programs.

Personally, I totally support this system.