This American Life: Very Tough Love

[IBCoupe]

This past weekend, This American Life presented only one story, instead of two or three. The story was one that Ira Glass spent weeks reporting and preparing for the broadcast - so much so that the two new broadcasts they had in the past three weeks were hosted by a replacement.

The story is about the Glynn County Drug Court system, Georgia, under one Judge Amanda Williams who has been running her court allegedly too punitively. Glass profiled three participants in the system, which is designed nationally to reduce imprisonment of nonviolent offenses and to simultaneously treat addicts.

First, he follows Lindsey Dills, who ended up serving more than 10 years for the crime of forging two checks (for a combined total of $100).

Second, he follows Brandi Byrd, whose mother gave her two prescription painkillers for a surgery she recently underwent. She's caught up when a friend gets pulled over for a DUI, and when she's searched, she's eventually charged with two felonies. She had no prior record. She doesn't handle the system well, as most people who are not actually addicts don't.

Finally, he profiles Charlie McCullough, who was s model participant in the program. Three months before graduation, he fails a drug test. He claims this is impossible, and takes another drug test 20 minutes later and passes. He takes another drug test after that and passes that, too. Then, he's brought before Judge Williams for failing the first drug test; she doesn't care about the second two. He's sent to prison for 3 days for the drug test failure, and for 14 days for challenging the drug test. Then, he starts to go the way of Brandi Byrd, and starts rebelling. His two years end up 3.5.

You can hear the story here: http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-a ... tough-love
Or read the transcript here: http://www.thisamericanlife.org/sites/d ... pt_430.pdf

If you read the transcript, read the reporter's notes that werent heard on air.

[R/T Hemi]

I've known two judges in my life, in fact, I lived next door to one. Unfortunately, from my experience, all judges catch Bench Disease after serving 5 years or so. Bench Disease is characterized by an irrational belief that they have become a deity, that they are no longer capable of making mistakes, and that they are above criticism. This appears to be a terminal malady.

Therefore, it doesn't surprise me when a judge like Judge Williams loses touch with reality. That happens more often when you stick them in their own courtroom with their "own area of expertise." It's a shame, but the fault lies with a system who does not rotate judges and require ongoing training, or provide a method of overview of judicial performance.

[stebo0728]

Our War on Drugs is completely rediculous. Stories like this shed the light on this a bit more.

[HashiriyaS14]

How did that guy end up in front of a judge for failing an employment drug test?

[IBCoupe]

How did that guy end up in front of a judge for failing an employment drug test?

It wasn't an employment drug test - it was part of the Drug Court boot camp. He was caught with drugs, was an addict, but had so far been a model participant.

What happened was that the woman performing the drug test dropped the vial cap in the trash before performing the first drug test. She was willing to testify to that in Court, but Judge Williams didn't want to hear it: she never even called the woman for testimony, and subsequently issued him more prison time for trying to dispute the initial test than she gave him for failing it.

[AZhitman]

R/T is spot-on here.

DC is supposed to be a progressive alternative to imprisonment, and I'm a supporter of it... I'd hope the story isn't an indictment of all DC programs.

Seems to me those screwups could have happened in regular cases as well, but maybe I glossed over something.

p.s. R/T, there's definitely a process for judicial performance reviews. Unfortunately, it can become a bit of a sham.

[IBCoupe]

The story was pretty well done. The message is: DC is great! Unless you get a judge who doesn't know how to use it properly. They said that this was the most severe instance, but that instances of similar problems are on the rise, as Court systems start rotating Judges in and out so fast that they can't quite get a handle on how to make it work.

Success comes when DC's more closely follow the national guidelines.

[AZhitman]

The story was pretty well done. The message is: DC is great! Unless you get a judge who doesn't know how to use it properly. They said that this was the most severe instance, but that instances of similar problems are on the rise, as Court systems start rotating Judges in and out so fast that they can't quite get a handle on how to make it work.

Success comes when DC's more closely follow the national guidelines.

Can't nail it any more on-center than this.

My next-door officemate when I worked for the SC was in charge of oversight of AZ's Drug Courts. She handled the problematic JPR's, and you wanna talk about a "God complex"? Jeez. You'd think they were Justices who cure cancer on the weekend.