This year 1995, the Denver drug court will handle two thousand felony drug cases. Presiding Judge Williams Meyer says before drug court most non violent offenders cycled in and out of the criminal justice system because no one dealt with the drug addiction that landed them there in the first place. They's be placed on probation. They wouldn't succeed on probation. . Fail there and move to community corrections and then eventually into the Department of Corrections.
Drug court takes more comprehensive approach.
Before offenders appear before the judge a counselor evaluates their criminal history and drug addiction. Denver District Attorney Bill Ritter likes this approach. But we're going to watch you and every time you fail there will be a consequence. Meyer says punishment is immediate. But non violent, first-time offenders are given a chance to turn their lives around.