Expedited Drug Case Management

• NCJ Number: 144534
• Author(s): C S Cooper
• Date Published: July 1994
• Length: 8 pages
• Grant Number(s): 89-DD-CX-K023
• Sponsoring Agency: Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA)
• Corporate Author: American University
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/; NCJRS Photocopy Services
• Publication Series: BJA Bulletins
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Program Description (Demonstrative)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: BJA Courts Bulletin, July 1994

Annotation

The influx of drug cases during the past decade has forced many judicial systems to re-examine existing methods for managing the criminal docket and to consider special strategies for handling drug cases.

Abstract

Central to this examination has been the recognition that effective drug caseload management and drug-involved offender supervision require early judicial intervention and flexible case management approaches that permit judges to tailor applicable sanctions and treatment intervention strategies for individual offenders. Several judicial strategies have been developed to deal with drug cases, including special drug court divisions within trial courts, expedited case processing procedures, deferred prosecution programs requiring court-supervised treatment and counseling, increased coordination between treatment and supervision functions within the adjudication process, and various combinations of these strategies. In 1989, the Bureau of Justice Assistance initiated the Expedited Drug Case Management (EDCM) Demonstration Program to help State courts of general jurisdiction address the special management and treatment intervention issues presented by the drug caseload and the drug-involved offender. The program goal was to develop, pilot test, and refine differentiated case management (DCM) techniques for processing drug cases and to incorporate various treatment and rehabilitative services in the case disposition process, both pretrial and postadjudication. Demonstration projects in New Jersey, Oregon, and Pennsylvania confirmed the efficacy of DCM techniques. Benefits involved improved capacity to control the drug caseload shortly after filing, individualized treatment intervention and sanctioning strategies, increased court efficiency and judge productivity, reduced number of defendants who failed to appear and pretrial jail days, reduced costs for pretrial detention, and more effective offender treatment services. Key components of the EDCM Demonstration Program are described, as well as program implementation procedures. Brief summaries of the three demonstration projects are provided.