Seven Tribes to Receive Federal Drug Court Grants
Story-Date: 11:46 a.m. PST Sunday   , August 31, 1997

Seven Tribes to Receive Federal Drug Court GrantsIndian Country Today,
Rapid City, S.D.

Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News

WASHINGTON, D.C.--Sept. 1--Seven tribes from Alaska to Maine have been
selected to receive Justice Department Drug Court grants totaling nearly a
million dollars.

Funding will be used to plan and implement special courts that allow
non-violent drug-addicted offenders to plead guilty to charges and receive
voluntary drug treatment instead of going to jail.

Although four tribes were recipients of planning grants in 1994, this year
is the first time tribes will receive implementation funding.

``The goal of drug courts isn't to process the case, but to get someone
with an addiction well and sober so that person can be a productive member
of society,'' said Marilyn Roberts, director of the Drug Courts Program
Office of the U.S. Department of Justice.

The courts which began in Miami, Fla., in 1989, seem to be working.

At least 45 percent of defendants convicted of drug possession through the
standard court system will commit a similar offense within two to three
years, according to the American University's Drug Court Clearinghouse and
Technical Assistance Project.

On the other hand, only 5 to 28 percent of those sentenced to treatment
through the drug courts will recycle through the judicial system.

Drug courts have two components: treatment and intensive judicial
supervision. Judges, prosecutors, defense lawyers and treatment providers
must work together as a team.

``We are happy when recipients decide that a major portion of the money
goes for treatment,'' Ms. Roberts said. ``Treatment is often our weakest
link in this system.''

Rita Weeks, court administrator for the Assiniboine and Sioux Tribe,
agrees.

The Ft. Peck Reservation in northeast Montana is without a detox unit and
has no in-patient treatment for adults.

``We have to refer them off the reservation to make sure they are getting
intensive outpatient treatment,'' she said.

Her tribe will use their $100,000 Justice Department grant to plan and
implement a fully computerized case management system linking tribal courts
with law enforcement on the Ft. Peck Reservation.

``We'll be focusing on follow-up because in the past we haven't had the
manpower to do that,'' said Ms. Weeks, who currently serves as interim
associate judge. ``We want to make certain these people are receiving
treatment.''

Ms. Roberts said that last week the Justice Department's Drug Court Program
office began adjusting and revising their training programs to adapt them
to tribal court systems and American Indian culture.

Tribes receiving the grants are: the Chevak Traditional Council and the
Organized Village of Kwethluk in Alaska, the Pasqua Yaquis Tribe in
Arizona, the Shoshone Bannock Tribes in Idaho, the Indian Township
Passamaquoddy Tribe in Maine, the Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes in Montana
and the Sisseton Wahpeton Sioux Tribe in South Dakota.

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(c) 1997, Indian Country Today, Rapid City, S.D. Distributed by
Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News.



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