Are Judicial Status Hearings a Key Component of Drug Court? During-Treatment Data From a Randomized Trial

• NCJ Number: 200090
• Journal: Criminal Justice and Behavior Volume: 30 Issue: 2 Dated: April 2003 Pages: 141-162
• Author(s): Douglas B. Marlowe; David S. Festinger; Patricia A. Lee; Maria M. Schepise; Julie E. R. Hazzard; Jeffrey C. Merrill; Francis D. Mulvaney; A. Thomas McLellan
• Date Published: April 2003
• Length: 22 pages
• Grant Number(s): R01-DA-13096
• Sponsoring Agency: National Institute on Drug Abuse
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This article examines the effects on drugs offenders of ongoing judicial status hearings in a drug court.

Abstract

Offenders charged with misdemeanor drug offenses in Delaware were approached about entering this study, which required participation in a drug treatment program through orders of a drug court. Consenting offenders were randomly assigned to either (a) attend bi-weekly judicial status hearings throughout their treatment program (n = 98) or (b) be monitored by their case manager at the treatment facility (n = 99). The authors hypothesized that more frequent status hearings with the drug court judge would be associated with more favorable treatment outcomes for participants during the 14-week study period. Results of statistical analysis, however, revealed that the bi-weekly status hearings were not associated with more favorable outcomes in comparison to the other group in terms of counseling attendance, urinalysis-confirmed abstinence, self-reported substance abuse, or illegal activity. The frequent status hearings were associated with greater detection of infractions and more remedial interventions by the drug court judge. Future research will focus on longer treatment and study periods (6-, 12-, and 24-months) and will examine issues of generalizability by expanding the research to other drug courts. References