MSNBC: "Drug courts get second look"

Last week, MSNBC reported on the growing bipartisan support for drug courts and other "problem-solving" criminal justice alternatives. "With criminal justice reform now an issue for both the Republican and Democratic side of the 2016 presidential campaign, drug courts are increasingly being viewed as a viable alternative to mandatory jail time."

Judge Jo Ann Ferdinand in her courtroom at the Brooklyn Treatment Court, in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Photo by John Trotter for MSNBC

As reported, President Barack Obama has expressed his support for collaborative courts: "We should invest in alternatives to prison like drug courts and treatment and probation programs which ultimately can save taxpayers thousands of dollars each year.”

The article states that, according to the National Association of Drug Court Professionals, "about 75% of those who complete drug court are not rearrested while as many of 70% of people released from traditional prison do reoffend. Over a million people have gone through drug court since 1989 and an estimated 150,000 people are participating in drug court at any given time. NADCP also estimates that for every dollar invested in drug courts, taxpayers save as much as $3.36 in additional criminal justice costs."

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