Chicago Public Radio’s “This American Life” profiles the Glynn County, Ga., drug court. The program contends that drug courts generally save “lots of money because fewer people are incarcerated, and, studies show, it actually helps people, gets them off drugs. Which means fewer repeat offenders.”
Critics, including the Justice Policy Institute and Drug Policy Alliance, say the radio program “illustrates the harm that can arise from drug court programs, highlighting a Georgia drug court which handed down excessively long sentences and prison terms to people who would have otherwise received minimal or no sentences. West Huddleston of the National Association of Drug Court Professionals says on the program that, “Any drug court that relies primarily on jail, or punishment generally, is operating way outside our philosophy and just does not understand addiction.”