NCJ Number
199201
Journal
ABA Journal Volume: 89 Dated: February 2003 Pages: 32-37
Date Published
February 2003
Length
6 pages
Annotation
This article examines the benefits of specialty courts (drug courts, mental health courts, domestic violence courts, etc.) and some concerns that practitioners have about the procedures of these courts.
Abstract
Drug, mental health, domestic violence, homeless, and community courts are just some of the new types of specialty courts sometimes called "boutique" courts. Drug courts are the oldest of these types of courts. Most drug courts require that those who volunteer to come under its jurisdiction admit their guilt before being assigned to a treatment regimen designed to prevent further drug use and related offenses. Those who argue for the requirement of a guilty plea say that guilt must be determined prior to the somewhat lengthy regimen of treatment in the interest of a speedy resolution of the case and to provide leverage for enforcing treatment mandates. Defense attorneys, however, are concerned that this will exert additional pressure to plead guilty to an offense for which a verdict of innocent may be likely in a traditional court. In the case of mental health courts, mentally ill defendants are offered a chance to receive treatment instead of a traditional sentence. Typically, these defendants have been charged with lesser crimes. Opponents of such courts, however, argue that individuals who need counseling and medication should be able to receive them without first pleading guilty. Critics also are concerned that those who have been arrested will have higher priority for mental health services than other equally needy mentally ill persons who have not committed crimes. In the case of domestic violence courts, where the imprisonment of a guilty offender seems to have priority, defense attorneys have due process concerns, notably that the emphasis on protecting victims has made these courts too quick to incarcerate defendants. Still, specialty courts provide a forum within which particular types of offenses can become the focus of efforts to provide a more constructive response to these offenses.