A Sober Assessment of Drug Courts1

Abstract

Federal Sentencing Reporter, Vol. 16, No. 1, pp. 113–28, ISSN 1053-9867, electronic ISSN 1533-8363. © 2003 by the Vera Institute of Justice. All rights reserved. Send requests for permission to reprint to: Rights and Permissions, University of California Press, Journals Division, 2000 Center Street, Suite 303, Berkeley, CA 94704-1223. fledgling drug courts should not be permitted to experiment by dropping or de-emphasizing the costlier elements of their programs, or by widening or shrinking the net of eligible offenders? As more and more drug courts crop up around the country, the quality of these programs could be declining progressively from the originally conceived drug court model; yet, little information is available to guide the drug court field in understanding this divergence or in justifying a reversal of the process. This article briefly reviews what we know, and what we need to know, about the effects of drug court programs. Based upon our review of the literature as well as our own program of research in several drug courts, we conclude that drug courts are promising but understudied. At this point in time, drug courts are the leading contender as a potentially effective intervention for a large population of seriously impaired individuals who otherwise would have a very poor prognosis. Unfortunately, little information is available to guide the field in improving upon the performance of drug courts or in reducing unintended negative consequences. We need more research and less hyperbole.