Graduating From Court to a New Life
Program Offers Intensive Treatment Alternative to Jail for Drug Offenders
Thursday, May 31, 2007; Page HO03
Parents, friends and neighbors sat beaming in the audience as the name of each proud graduate was called.
There were inspiring speeches, hugs and gifts. But in a season of commencements, this was no ordinary one.
  Whitney Jackson says she received the help and support she needed from Judge Neil Edward Axel's court to break from her troubled past. (Photos By Toni L. Sandys -- The Washington Post) |
This was Courtroom No. 5 in the District Court of Maryland for Howard County, and last week's ceremony recognized the nine most recent graduates of an innovative program, a special court that offers an alternative to jail for people facing drug- and alcohol-related charges.
The court helps offenders break the destructive cycle of addiction and crime. Each of the smiling honorees was celebrating 15 months or more of sustained sobriety.
"Each of these individuals has not only reached a milestone in their recovery, but in their lives," District Court Judge Neil Edward Axel said.
The court, one of only three combined drug and DUI courts in Maryland, is part of a growing national trend toward "problem-solving courts" set up to provide help to nonviolent offenders. Howard's program, which has been operating for about two years, offers qualifying participants a choice: jail or an intensive course of counseling, treatment and monitoring.
"I chose this," graduate Whitney Jackson, 21, said quietly.
She started drinking beer as a young teen to "fit in." She progressed to liquor and drugs as she struggled to finish high school. More than a year ago, drunken driving and probation violations landed her in Axel's courtroom.
She saw other participants feeling better about themselves and professionals standing ready to take her case. She decided this court might be the way to leave her past behind.
"I wanted to get out of that mess," said Jackson, a Laurel grocery store worker. "I wanted to get better. I needed help and support."
She found it in the Howard program.
Her mother, Lynnie Jackson, came to celebrate her graduation and to express her gratitude to the judge.
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