ABSTRACT
Drug courts can be defined as a slow-track, court-based treatment program, where the key features are dedicated courtrooms that provide judicially monitored treatment, drug testing, and other services to drug-involved offenders. Drug court is predicated on the assertion that crime and all other manifestations of unacceptable behavior come from the offender's addiction. The drug courts claim to be reinventing justice is manifested inter alia in the fundamental transformation of courtroom procedures. Anyone new to drug court would be astonished by its informality, where the center stage is fully accorded to the judge. Measures of informality ought not to disguise the serious intent or the powers used by the drug court judges. Informality does not equate with leniency. The judge may congratulate, but will also condemn, and condemnation can and often does lead to regular periods in jail. There are many good reasons to suspect that drug court has returned to the rehabilitative ideal of the earlier part of twentieth century.
