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How Do Courts Process Drug Cases?

Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Related Tags: courts | process | discretion | drugs | mandatory
 

Instructions

History

  • Step 1:
    Beginning in the 1980s, Congress and state legislatures enacted legislation imposing significant penalties---including long jail or prison terms---on people selling and using illegal drugs.

Effects

  • Step 1:
    The effects of the "War on Drugs" included the development of a court process in which judges lacked discretion in sentencing and imposed mandatory terms of imprisonment on defendants in drug cases.

Misconceptions

  • Step 1:
    The most prevalent misconception associated with the court processes attached to the War on Drugs is that illicit drug users are criminals first and addicts second.

Considerations

  • Step 1:
    Beginning in the late 1980s, but only gaining steam since the turn of the century, mandatory sentences in drug cases are being abandoned and the court process now favors judicial discretion and dealing with addiction issues.

Drug Courts

  • Step 1:
    The fundamental shift is the creation of a new judicial process known as drug courts. Drug courts allow a judge latitude to defer criminal punishment provided that the defendant obtains meaningful substance-abuse treatment.

Resources


How Do Courts Process Drug Cases? Provided by eHow.com
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