History of Adult Drug Court

Knowing the history of what led to the development of drug courts is significant. The criminal justice system needed to rethink how to address those suffering from a substance use disorder. A review of three major events that occurred, pushing for therapeutic jurisprudence instead of punitive measures, will be highlighted. The idea behind specialty courts is not new. The literature contains examples of the first attempts to approach participants in the criminal justice system from a different perspective. Traditional law enforcement approaches were not impacting the number of drug-related crimes. It took many years and multiple attempts at reforms in the justice system to create what has been established to date. The initial idea to create a specialty court model was just that, original ideas from seasoned professionals. They set out to create a set of standards that has since been added to and for which research has begun to be collected. The set of standards created helped to put into practice diversity in the court structure. Collaboration by all parties involved is exponentially the glue of why such specialty courts have had the successes they have. With integrated information among all parties involved with specialty court participants, there is greater support to meet the needs of the participants.