Published: May 18, 2008 01:10 am      

COURTS: Another option

Lockport’s drug court gives addicted defendants help staying clean and out of jail

Bright and early Tuesday morning, dozens of people filed into Lockport City Court.

There were people of all ages and races, some who’d dressed up in dresses and shirts and ties, and others wearing T-shirts and jeans. They all stood as Judge William J. Watson took the bench.

“Let’s see who’s here today,” Watson said, running through the roll call of clients.

In front of the jury box, a staff member sat at a table loaded with everything needed for urine testing — sanitary gloves, hand sanitizer and urinalysis kits. Behind her, another staff member held a plastic bag filled with urine cups.

It was just the beginning of a three-hour session of Lockport’s Drug Court Treatment Program, a specialized court designed to handle criminal cases involving offenders struggling with substance abuse.

With court-supervised counseling, treatment, education and incentives, drug court aims to help offenders not only avoid jail sentences, but get off drugs and begin to lead productive lives.

“I heard someone say a long time ago, ‘It’s easy to quit using. I know people that have done that hundreds of times,’ ” said Joseph Claypoole, drug court resource coordinator. “What’s difficult is to get a reason to stay clean. (Drug court offers) some of the stuff — those supports and those sober activities, the family involvement — that helps them stay clean.”

How it works

Defendants from the criminal side of Lockport City Court must be screened before they can enter drug court.

“They’re not criminals with a drug problem, they’re drug addicts that break the law because of their addiction,” Case Manager Ann White said.

The “drugs of choice” among clients range from hard drugs such as heroin and crack cocaine to prescription drugs like hydrocodone and Oxycontin.

“I think that (the public) thinks that it’s a certain criminal-type person that comes to drug court,” White said. “It’s really not. We have people from (age) 18 up into their 60s, from all walks of life. From CEOs to people that are homeless.”

The program takes at least one year to complete. In Phase 1, which lasts a minimum of eight weeks, clients learn about the addiction cycle and report to court once a week.

In Phase 2, the focus shifts to learning how to overcome addiction. Clients report to court once every other week.

In Phase 3, the clients are meant to learn skills needed to continue to live a drug-free life. This phase lasts a minimum of four months.

The duration of Phase 4 is different for every participant, depending on their progression. This phase focuses on completing all requirements for graduation.

Clients must complete a community improvement project before they can graduate. At any time during the program, a client can be terminated or voluntarily remove themselves from the program.

After graduation, clients can continue with LifeWorks, a voluntary alumni association that provides continuing support.

Even if they don’t graduate, Watson said, some clients can still be considered successes.

“Even though they got to a place in their lives where maybe it didn’t catch on, a year from now, maybe, when something comes up again, maybe they’ll have the tools in place,” he said.

Since the Lockport Drug Treatment Court program began in 2000, there’s been a widespread misconception that it’s the “easy way out” for criminals, Claypoole said.

The program was not immediately accepted by the law enforcement community. Police Chief Larry Eggert, who was a detective at the time the program began, said he was “the No. 1 skeptic” at the time.

After watching the program in action, however, he changed his mind.

“You realize they’re in it to help people,” Eggert said. “But they’re also very strict about it.”



Consequences

Once done reading off the roll call Tuesday, Watson asked the audience for a show of hands.

“Anybody that used?” he asked.

While most of the audience sat in silence, one man in the back row raised his hand in the air.

Later, when called to the front to have his case heard, the man would admit to using hydrocodone and cocaine over the weekend. He’d also skipped several treatment sessions in the past week.

“I just lost all hope,” the man said.

Later on in court, a middle-aged man told Watson that he’d gotten into trouble with the probation department after they found alcohol in his apartment. The alcohol — a bottle of vodka hidden under a mattress — belonged to the man’s roommate. He said he didn’t know it was there.

Despite that, Watson had to impose a sanction, sending the man to jail for a week.

“You get held accountable for alcohol on the premises, no matter whose it is,” Watson said.

The man became upset, wondering out loud if the sanction means his nine months of hard work will be thrown out the door.

“This was completely out of my control,” he said. “My sobriety’s fine. It means nothing. Everything I’ve done up until this point means nothing. I’ve never blown a number, I’ve never given a dirty tox.”

“You can’t start being somebody who’s going to throw away their recovery,” Watson told him. “You’ve got to learn from that and maintain your recovery.”

The program has a zero-tolerance policy for non-compliance. A client is considered non-compliant if he or she fails to keep a treatment appointment, fails to make it to a court appearance, uses drugs or alcohol, fails to comply with alcohol or drug testing requirements, fails to lead a law-abiding life or fails to abide by any other mandate of the court.

For one woman on Tuesday, the results of a recent drug test had come back diluted — indicating she drank a lot of water before taking the test in order to dilute her urine.

Because of this, she was given a week’s sanction.

Watson said the urine sample was so diluted, it would have come back with the same results as if she’d sent a bottle of water to the lab.

“How do I fight this?” the woman asked, her voice shaking. “I need to fight it. This isn’t right. This is not right.”

She cried as she was handcuffed, and Watson promised her she’d be able to challenge the results. Though her one-week sanction in jail started immediately, the court scheduled a hearing for the challenge.

If a drug court client challenges a urine test and it comes back positive again, they are given a three-week sanction.

One man in his 20s learned Tuesday that a challenge had come back in his favor, though he didn’t get to hear the results until halfway through court.

“I know that makes things nerve-wracking for you,” Watson said.

“Wracking ain’t the word for it,” the man replied. “I was nervous up until this point. My heart is thumping now.”



Family atmosphere

During Tuesday’s session, Watson chatted with one client about the work she’s been doing on her house. She said she’d been painting her workout room.

“What color did you choose?” he asked.

“Yellow,” she said. “I wanted a real bright, bright room.”

As each client came up, Watson made more friendly conversation; He asked one man about his high blood pressure, and another about how he’s dealing with the recent death of his mother. He told another man he was looking healthier after gaining some weight.

The relationships built in court are vital to the success of the program, Watson said.

“We share their highs, but we also share their lows,” he said. “If they fail, we go along emotionally with that.”

Claypoole said Watson is a “father figure” to the clients.

“A lot of times people will come in here and they will do well ... looking to get the praise from him,” he said. “The time he takes to get to know the different things about people makes such a huge difference.”

Watson said he sometimes runs into drug court clients out in public, long after graduation.

It’s a big change from his normal criminal court duties.

“If you help an individual in criminal court, they never come back. What you do see is the repeat offenders. You sometimes feel a little frustrated at the efforts your trying to make,” he said. ”However, in drug court, you get to see the successes, and that’s so amazing.”

Contact reporter April Amadon

at 439-9222, ext. 6251.