Miami's Treatment Drug Court for Felony Defendants: Some Implications of Assessment Findings

One of the most innovative responses to the dramatic increase in the drug-caseloads of the 1980s in American courts was the Miami Drug Court, a treatment-oriented drug court that sought to bring substance abuse treatment to bear on the problems of drug-involved felony defendants in a diversionary, alternative processing approach. The treatment drug court model pioneered by Dade County officials in 1989 defined a new, hands-on role for the judge in managing the processing and treatment of defendants and an unorthodox courtroom approach that was based on teamwork among defense, prosecution, treatment, and other court-related agencies. Perhaps the greatest contribution of the court innovation was the attempt to marry the methods of drug treatment (and an understanding of drug-involved behavior) with the goals of criminal processing in a judge-supervised treatment program based on outpatient methods in the community. This article describes the Miami Drug Court Model and reports on findings from an empirical assessment to determine its impact that followed defendants into and through the Drug Court starting in the fall of 1990 for an observation period of 18 months and examined issues in a number of key criminal justice and treatment areas. In addition to considering the implications of the evaluative findings for the promise of the Miami Drug Court Model as an alternative processing strategy, this article examines policy issues relating to selection and extension of a target population posed for the treatment drug court approach and illustrates the need for differentiating among drug court candidates in planning effective and efficient treatment programs.