June / July 18

June/July 2018

Drug Courts Battle Opioid Epidemic

Vol. 16 No. 3

Jury Management Technologies

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VOLU M E 16 N U M B E R 3 F EATU R E S

10 Beefing Up Court Security 16 Jury Management Technologies

23 DUI Study: How Interlock Laws Save Lives

26 Drug Courts Battle Opioid Epidemic

DE PARTM E NTS

4 Courts in the Media 32 Ad Index

with alternative & diversion programs

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C O U RTS I N T H E M E D I A CAN THIS JUDGE SOLVE THE OPIOID CRISIS? Judge Dan Aaron Polster of the Northern District of Ohio has perhaps the most daunting legal challenge in the country: resolving more than 400 federal lawsuits brought by cities, counties and Native American tribes against central figures in the national opioid tragedy, including makers of the prescription painkillers, companies that distribute them, and pharmacy chains that sell them. And he has made it clear that he will not be doing business as usual, says a March 5 story in

During the first hearing in the case, held in Cleveland in early January, the judge informed lawyers that he intended to dispense with legal norms like discov-

ery and would not preside over years of “unraveling complicated conspiracy theories.� Then he ordered them to prepare for settlement discussions immediately.

Not a settlement that would be “just moving money around,� he added, but one that would provide meaningful solutions to a national crisis—by the end of this year.

In December 2017, a judicial panel gathered all the prescription opioid cases filed in federal court across the country and plopped them into Judge Polster’s lap. The consolidation of large numbers of similar cases is called a multidistrict litigation, or MDL; it’s usually done to enhance efficiency and reduce costs.

This type of litigation is inherently unconventional, but the consolidated opioid lawsuits may be even

more complex than most.

All the defendants say the drugs were approved by the FDA and prescribed by doctors. Plaintiffs claim that manufacturers aggressively marketed the pills for years, despite knowing about addictive properties; that distributors shipped alarming quantities without reporting to the authorities; that pharmacy chains looked away while selling flag-raising amounts to individuals.

Polster says he is keenly aware that steering the process away from traditional litigation is unorthodox. “The judicial branch typically doesn’t fix social problems, which is why I’m somewhat uncomfortable doing this,� he said. “But it seems the most human thing to do.� Stay posted.

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BY DONNA ROG ERS , E D IT O R

Beefing Up Courthouse Security A multi-faceted approach yields peace of mind.

A

multi-faceted approach to security at courthouses is needed to keep judicial officers, and all others in the courthouse safe. Threats come from inside and outside the courthouse: they stem from philosophical differences with the public, litigants with a beef, or even disgruntled employees.

A 2014 survey of judicial officers conducted by The National Judicial College (NJC), in partnership with the U.S. Marshals Service, Judicial Security Division (USMS), found a high level of incidence of judges feeling threatened and unsafe. Of the 1,281 state and local judges who responded to the Judicial Security Survey, 593 (51%) answered yes to a question that asked if they had been threatened.

Three hundred and fifty-five (31%) said their family feels unsafe because of their position as a judge and over 80% responded that they worry about their own safety due to their position. Twenty-one judges reported being physically

attacked because of their position.

Over the past few years, courts have been addressing these safety issues in their physical, architectural and technical designs. Court design has included more sophisticated screening devices, emergency alerting systems and hardened buildings that include use of bullet- and blast-resistant materials, set-backs, bollards and natural elements to prevent incident.

While it is of utmost concern to keep court officers and the public safe in a court of law, at the same time, courts understand it is important to our judicial system to offer defendants a fair and unprejudiced trial. Shackling those on trial can cause an unfair prejudice to jurors who may psychologically assume guilt based on fetters and constraints. Newer stun devices and restraining chairs are ways to restrain without immediately presuming guilt.

Here we will look at several types of technologies that answer some of these challenges.

An article “The Use of Shackles in Court Proceedings” by DDA Robert O. Amador, San Diego

District Attorneys Office, starts with Penal Code Section 688: “No person charged with a public offense may be subjected, before conviction, to any more restraint than is necessary for his detention to answer the charge.”

Various cases uphold that law.

For example, in the 1976

(16 Cal.3d 282), the court recognized that the shackling of a criminal defendant prejudicially affects the defendant’s constitutional right to be presumed innocent as well as the defendant’s right to present and participate in the defense. The court stated the potential harms resulting from shackling: “possible prejudice in the minds of the jurors, the affront to human dignity, the disrespect for the entire judicial system.” The court furthered that “a defendant cannot be subjected to physical restraints of any kind in the courtroom while in the jury’s presence, unless there is a showing of manifest need for such restraints.”

During 20-plus years working in the courts as a deputy, Cliff Priest notes he had experience with thousands of in-custody

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The Custody Chair from Priest Ergonomics is said to be one of the least restrictive restraint devices available.

defendants. “Our safety, the public’s safety, the courts safety, the defendant’s safety and the defendant’s constitutional rights were always in our thoughts and actions. Balancing all of these out together can sometimes get very complicated,” he acknowledges.

Defendant(s) have an important right to be free from shackles or restraints during trial and participate in their own defense freely, unless there is an approved judicial showing of manifest need for such restraints, he continues.

Defendants can’t properly participate in their defense if they are restrained or seated in some uncomfortable position that causes them pain, discomfort or distractive worry from pain compliance.

“If manifest need is ordered by the court, and restraints are deemed necessary, the law requires authorities to use the most appropriate and least restrictive restraints available,” Priest says.

His company Priest Ergonomics

offers the Custody Chair, which helps secure legal proceedings by containing the defendant in a comfortable chair and securing them in a comfortable seated position. If a defendant outburst does occur, the defendant will be limited in movement by the attached chair giving the bailiff(s) time to properly react, quickly stopping the incident and helping to prevent any injuries.

The defendant’s dignity is maintained by sitting in a chair that looks and feels like everyone else’s in the courtroom. The restraint belt is worn around the waist and passed through a bracket in the inside of The Custody Chair and the buckle is locked. This belt is comfortable and invisible to the jurors and public.

During a courtroom trial, defendant’s sit for many hours per day.

This chair provides the defendant with an ergonomically comfortable seated position plus containment, thus eliminating any physical pain, discomfort, breathing problems or blood circulation issues. This allows them to assist their attorney and participate with their defense without worry of pain or shock, he says.

Nip It in the Bud Another choice for courts to keep a defendant under control

during trial so that he/she does not appear to be shackled is the Stun-Cuff. This wireless less-thanlethal technology has been shown to keep violent prisoners under control both in court and during transport, and can be used in conjunction with standard cuffs.

“There is always danger when dealing with a prisoner,” says Brad Myers, owner of Myers Enterprises, Inc., the product’s maker. The electronic device is used when a prisoner has been shown to be violent, and there’s a possibility they will harm others or cause injury to themselves, he says. “Being a deterrent is its single best effect,” he adds.

“I suggest anytime the StunCuff is being used to show the prisoner how the device works and fire the Stun-Cuff for effect to let them know there is no escape.

“It is very rare to have issues with persons that have a Stun-Cuff on the wrist or ankle. Occasionally you have a mad dog that just wants to fight everything and everyone,” he says, “and officers are left no choice but to stun the prisoner into submission.”

Myers points out that it has been safe to deploy and tested by time.

There has been no litigation against the device in 11 years of use.

This less-tha- lethal stun device works well as a deterrent.

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Peerless handcuffs, leg irons and waist chains can be retrofitted with high security locks by BOA Handcuff Co.

A quality handcuff or leg cuff keeps defendants secure. Peerless Handcuff Company offers a full line of restraints including chain link handcuffs, hinged handcuffs, oversize handcuffs, leg irons, waist chains and color-plated restraints.

All of its products are designed to meet and exceed the tough U.S. National Institute of Justice standards for strength and quality, notes Peter Gill, vice president.

He furthers that Peerless handcuffs, leg irons and waist chains can be retrofitted with high security locks by BOA Handcuff Co. with either MEDECO and ASSA Desmo cylinder; both are recognized leaders in pick resistance lock systems.

Ending a Conflict Safely What do you do if the fight is already in progress? Turning the subject on his/her stomach to cuff has proved deadly in several notable instances due to asphyxiation. The WRAP Safety Restraint is documented to stop a conflict in 2 +/- minutes, says Patrick Pethel, master instructor. Available from Safe Restraints, the device controls a combative subject in an upright/seated position comfortably upon first contact and halts the fight permanently.

Pethel explains: “In a traditional conflict, ‘something’ has to occur to get a subject to stop fighting. This ‘something’ can be use of force applied by officers or exhaustion of the subject, or worse. The WRAP is designed to ‘help stop the fight’ while it is in progress and stop it quick.” The first step is to lock the legs together to eliminate the ability of the subject to kick. The next step is to get the subject upright/seated by using the harness so they are off their stomach, can breath and recover. “Now the subject is controlled comfortably, safely and looks very humane versus an ongoing/escalating fight with extended face-down control.

“The dangers of extended fights, face down/positional asphyxia, escalating force and courtroom control are all at risk as the fight continues/escalates...especially with a full courtroom comprised of family, friends on both sides of the case. All these risks are massively reduced because the conflict is over quickly with The WRAP.” Examples can be seen through over 7,000 units in the field used by 800 departments over 20+ years.

First Line of Defense Of course, preventing anyone

from smuggling a weapon in past security is the first line of defense.

The visibility of violence nationwide, including courthouse shootings, prompts courthouse security personnel to maintain continuous reviews of their security measures, points out Luca Cacioli, director of operations, CEIA USA. These evolving security threats leave little room for error and demand state-of-the-art security solutions.

He says that CEIA Court Security solutions include metal detection systems that provide automatic identification of a widerange of metal threat items along with the maximum possible transit flow-rate.

CEIA metal detectors combine enterprise level performance with immediate and long-term value for our customers, Cacioli furthers.

One of the critical advantages is discrimination, the ability to alarm for threat items such as guns and knives, while not alarming on innocuous items, like belts, watches and keys. CEIA walk-through metal detectors have the lowest Nuisance Alarm Rate (NAR) in the industry, he says. The less the detectors alarm on innocuous items, the more people can be screened in the same amount of time. Lowest NAR, therefore, translates into the highest throughput in the industry and lines that move faster.

For detection, meeting and exceeding international security levels is another biggie. Cacioli says: “Once you set a CEIA metal detector to a certain security level we assure the detector meets or exceeds the security standard that corresponds to that security level: 100% compliance means peace of mind.” CT

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BY G. F. G U ERC I O, C O N T R I B U T I N G E D IT O R

Streamlining Jury Management Communications is key to improving efficiency rates, and connecting through current popular methods and devices is now the gold standard.

Who doesn’t own a cell phone?

A laptop or desktop? There are still landlines and postal service but the delivery speed of instantaneous and the connectivity of reaching someone in their purse or pocket brings a whole new meaning to the word streamline.

Streamlining jury management means reaching them where they’re at; reaching them in the ways they are now comfortable in connecting. And on the way there, courts can improve Failure to Respond (FTR) and Failure to Appear (FTA) rates, contemplate a Continuity of Operation Plan (COOP) in light of societal events and juror responsibility, and relish one-click processing of check-in, movement and payment.

A lot of the efficiencies in jury management revolve around the ability to communicate with jurors via as many ways as possible, assesses John Arntsen, VP of Client Services, Courthouse Technolo-

Tyler’s Betsy Veneziano, senior quality assurance analyst, discusses new features of Odyssey Jury with clients at the 2018 Odyssey User Conference in Fort Worth, Texas.

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gies, Ltd. “Emails, text messaging, phone calls, etc. are important in keeping jurors informed of what is needed from them and when.

Transparency of information is key to improving juror-relations as well as efficiency in a jury operation.”

Another way to help a jury operation, he says, is by having more functional options available to jurors online. “The more selfservice functions available, the more jurors can get and give the information needed for any jury operation to operate effectively.”

Being able to communicate with jurors via methods they have come to expect everywhere else in their lives is key: “Everything is done at breakneck speed,” Arntsen continues. “The jury offices that have embraced this ability are the ones who have seen a dramatic increase in efficiency and savings. Scenarios where this makes the biggest difference is providing jurors with last-minute information about their service, i.e., service called off, court closed, check-in time changed, or case has plead out and they are not needed. All of these scenarios benefit from the court being able to contact jurors via emails and text messages at a moment’s notice.”

With the ability to communicate more effectively, the biggest improvements can be seen in moving jurors around, Arntsen says, applying them to panels, returning them from panels, calling them off, calling them in.

Whether it’s a small pool for a straightforward trial or a large pool for a challenging case, the balance between effective use of those available for jury service and budgetary constraints requires a jury management system that can capitalize on efficiency, according to

CourtConcierge from Sonant provides jury management with an emergency phone number that can handle hundreds or thousands of simultaneous calls.

Rex Arnold, president, Alliance Renewable Technologies, Inc. “Duprocess Jury Management customizes your summons as needed using Microsoft Word. No longer do you need to pay for thousands of preprinted forms only to discard them when something needs changing. Print summons for a single person or for full venire on demand when necessary.”

Or, adds Alex Griffith, national sales director, the public-facing web portal allows jurors to interact prior to summons date to prereport online, complete juror preservice questionnaires, request excusal or deferral, or confirm they will be appearing for service.

“And, jurors can request reminders via email or text. The information entered via web portal is available immediately to jury management personnel.”

With the click of the mouse, he furthers, personnel can call-off or forward an entire jury, easily mark individual jurors excused, deferred, summons delivered, summons undelivered, and more.

“You can schedule required juror candidates to appear for check-in on different dates when necessary for multi-day, large pool requirements.”

Arnold explains juror check-in is frequently one of the bottlenecks in the jury management process.

“Juror candidates often arrive simultaneously for their service.

Duprocess Jury Management allows the user to easily select and update juror records via mouse click or Duprocess industry-leading one-touch screen technology.”

A juror candidate may come back and ask for a deferral or excusal or change to ready to serve. “No matter what the juror candidate’s movements or changes are, any option is just a single step.”

And the ability to pay jurors during service prior to completion even if rates change ensures each juror receives the compensation required or that donation requests are met with unlimited donor recipients. “At any time, see the current venire summoning yield, call-off, no shows, etc. at the click of the mouse,” Arnold continues.

“Run statistical reports for summoning yield for any timeframe desired.”

Handling Critical Events Juror Services offices often cite three main concerns affecting their operations today, explains Dean Goddette, product manager, at Sonant Corporation: Continuity of Operations (COOP), Failure to Respond (FTR) and Failure to Appear (FTA) juror rates.

“Technical improvements in com-

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munication tools are now available like never before in purpose-built applications such as CourtConcierge to communicate with current and prospective jurors. “Continuity of Operations is a problem that is important but not critical‌until it is,â€? he points out. “You don’t know when the next earthquake, fire, or active shooter will completely disrupt your normal operations. Jury management has to deal with communicating with the public and providing them instructions under potentially difficult circumstances. More than ever before, Juror Services offices are developing full-blown COOPs that address a laundry list of critical issues, ranging from staffing to integrity of juror records.â€?

Sonant provides jury management with an emergency phone number that can handle hundreds or thousands of simultaneous calls, Goddette says. In the absence of an operational JMS or court infrastructure, CourtConcierge provides notifications for jurors and management by push notifications or call-ins.

Addressing FTR and FTA rates is a different, but no less critical, problem, he notes. A 2013 study,

by G. M. Fazari, National Center for State Courts, suggests that sending more frequent reminder notifications to jurors could have a dramatic effect on FTR and FTA jurors. “If mailing more postcards, as was suggested, could potentially improve compliance rates, then how much more of an impact would a full range of communication options have, such as offered

by Sonant: email, text, website and phone calls,� he says.

In meeting the needs of today’s digital citizen, Michael Kleiman, director of Marketing, Tyler

Technologies Courts & Justice Division, notes that Odyssey Jury provides maximum constituent convenience for interacting with the court both online and via text—similar to how they interact with banks and airlines. “As recent significant improvements to Odyssey Jury, these online and digital options help increase response rates, boost juror yield, and enhance both the juror and clerk experience.�

Kleiman adds, “In tune with client feedback, Tyler recently made significant improvements to the existing Odyssey Jury infrastructure.� The new attributes include: Robust document management scanning features that enable the image scanning of questionnaires, response cards, or other important court paperwork; a text message reminder system for jurors who have provided a phone number and opted in; Inbound Voice Response (IVR) communications to allow jurors to call into a central number or get up-tominute updates; an interactive, visual seating chart with one-click access to the juror information; juror document upload in the web response model, so they can provide proof of exemptions; and the ability to secure pools/panels.

Respect for the Public The public is increasingly using the Web to interact with businesses, and courts are no exception, he explains. “Jury duty is the most visible part of the court system, and courts that have an efficient jury process demonstrate to the public that their time and involvement is respected and their tax dollars are well spent.�

Built on the same Odyssey platform that includes configurable security, electronic document/content management and customiz-

able workflow, he says features of the new Odyssey Jury module include: Simple jury wheel recharging; seamless integration with Case Manager for the courts to request juries of the jury coordinator; ability to generate elegant summons forms or integrate with third party printing vendors; online questionnaires and requests for excusals/deferrals for jurors; and integrated and secure document management for storage of jury response data, such as questionnaires. And should the court choose to skip the main jury room concept, the ability to auto empanel a percentage of online jurors.

Day of court processing includes rapid check-in supported by several different methods (e.g., bar code scanning, tablets), simple means to process excusals/deferrals, easy processing of payments and charitable donations, quick methods to empanel and shuffle panels, ability to generate panel packets as PDFs, saving reams of paper, he adds.

Skipping the paper in information delivery services, Slingshot Technologies puts fax, email, and interactive voice response, to work. That is, broadcast faxes and emails directly from a desktop to a list of fax numbers and/or email addresses; and direct faxes to your email so they can be viewed, forwarded and archived just like email messages. With reporting, email gains true broadcasting abilities to monitor success rates. Add Interactive Voice Response and utilize one or all services. WEBS, the personal broadcast manager, is easy to use, easy to manage and easy to put in the hands of staff, they note.

It is true courts are starting to evolve technologically. Court staff and jurors alike are transitioning into the future, says Larry Hilands, vice president Software

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Development, RBA Professional Data systems, Inc. Problems of labor intensive mailings, errors in statistical reporting, inaccurate juror histories and payment processing can all be resolved.

The eJury Management and Reporting System from RBA, is a customizable, browser-based web application, AOPC (Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts) compliant, available through the Pa. Department of General Services COSTARS program.

One notable element that has made a major difference in costs and processing for court administration he says is the Online Questionnaire Designer used to create or modify the Qualification and Voir Dire Questionnaires. The Designer allows for multiple types of questionnaires; e.g. Civil, Criminal, and Grand Jury. “The

Courthouse Technologies Jury Management System (JMS) Messaging Page can mass notify jurors about last-minute information about their service.

online questionnaire feature offers after-hours responses via user’s smart phones, tablets and computers as the application is supported by all of the popular internet browsers.” EJury can also send acknowledgements of responses and cancelation alerts via emails, text messages and mailed letters.

The jury selection process was one of RBA’s most difficult challenges he cites, because of the various ways counties do trial selections. This required RBA to develop specialized user interface screens to retain each way of doing challenge for cause and peremptory challenges. As enhancements are made to the system they become available to all of RBA’s clients, he says. “This keeps RBA’s clientele on the leading edge of technology for jury management in areas such as One day/One trial, One step/Two step, and Grand Jury.” The software allows court administrators flexibility and expeditiousness in selection placement, walk-ins, payments, record keeping etc. Former Huntingdon County Court Administrator Alexa McGraw comments that with it, “It

only takes about one second to check a person in.”

Working to ensure the system meets all needs, Hilands adds, “Once a year, in the early fall RBA hosts a user’s group meeting for all their clients and those that are interested in our product.

Everyone gets together to discuss any modifications or enhancements that they feel would increase productivity with the development team.”

Developments that enhance and streamline jury management are reshaping the future according to Courthouse Technologies’ Arntsen. “I believe the biggest change will come in the form of having a completely paperless jury operation. We are almost there.

The final stage we have not been able to go forward with yet is an electronic summons notification process. Technologically, this is already available. The bottleneck lies with the individual jury laws for each state and the ability to obtain jurors’ email addresses as part of the jury source data. If these obstacles can be overcome, the technology is ready.” CT

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Locking Out Impaired Driving Laws that require interlocks for all DUI offenders save lives A STATUS REPORT BY THE INSURANCE INSTITUTE FOR HIGHWAY SAFETY/HIGHWAY LOSS DATA INSTITUTE

requiring all impaireddriving offenders to install alcohol interlocks reduce the number of impaired drivers in fatal crashes by 16 percent, a new IIHS study shows. If all states without such laws adopted them, more than 500 additional lives could be saved each year.

A separate study shows that those laws could be made even

Laws

more effective. In a detailed examination of Washington’s interlock policies, Institute researchers found that, as the state’s interlock laws were strengthened, interlock installations went up and recidivism declined. At the same time, more DUI charges were reduced to lesser offenses that don’t require interlocks. That suggests states could increase the impact of their interlock laws by closing such loopholes.

The two studies are the latest to support the expansion of alcohol interlocks—in-vehicle breath-testing units that require a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) below a certain level, typically somewhere between 0.02 and 0.04 percent, before the vehicle can be started.

More than a quarter of U.S. crash deaths occur in crashes in which at least one driver has a BAC of 0.08 percent or higher. The prevalence of impaired driving in June/July 2018x

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fatal crashes has changed little in the past two decades, and interlock laws are one of the few recent policy innovations that have made a difference.

Forty-five states require interlocks for at least certain impaired-driving offenders. Twenty-eight states, the District of Columbia and four California counties have some type of interlock requirement that apply to first-time offenders.

Even when they are mandated for first offenders, interlocks come into play only after a DUI arrest, so their direct purpose is to reduce recidivism. Like other types of sanctions, however, they may act as a deterrent for those who haven’t yet committed a first offense if they are well-publicized.

Interlock laws cut deaths Whether interlocks keep those convicted of DUI from reoffending or deter people generally from driving while impaired, the overarching goal is to reduce alcohol-impaired driving and the deaths and injuries that result. The national study shows they

have succeeded.

“We looked at the number of impaired passenger vehicle drivers involved in fatal crashes over time and compared them with the number of drivers in fatal crashes that didn’t involve impairment,” says Eric Teoh, IIHS senior statistician and the paper’s lead author. “We found that state laws mandating interlocks for all DUI offenders reduced the number of drivers in fatal crashes with BACs of 0.08 percent or higher by 16 percent compared with no interlock law.”

In 2016, 10,497 people died in crashes involving drivers with a BAC of 0.08 percent or higher. Of those, 8,853 involved impaired passenger-vehicle drivers. At that time, the number of states with first-offender laws was 25. Had all states had all-offender interlock requirements in place, 543 of those deaths would have been prevented, Teoh calculated.

For the analysis, the authors grouped together two types of all-offender laws: those that require all offenders, including first offenders, to install interlocks to have their license reinstated and those that only require it to drive during a post-conviction suspension. The analysis controlled for factors besides interlocks that could affect crashes.

Laws that required interlocks for repeat offenders only cut the number of drivers with BACs of 0.08 percent by 3 percent compared with no interlock law, and that effect wasn’t statistically significant, the study showed. Laws that required them for both repeat offenders and offenders with high BACs provided an 8 percent benefit.

One state’s experience The examination of Washington’s laws updates an earlier study that found that recidivism declined after the state expanded its interlock requirement, which previously targeted only repeat and high-BAC offenders and offenders who refused the alcohol test, to all offenders in 2004 (see original Status Report, March 6, 2012). The update looks at trends in Washington state over a longer period during which the interlock law was further bolstered.

The additional changes included allowing an interlock in lieu of an administrative driver’s license suspension before conviction, a change that went into effect in 2009. Then, beginning in 2011, convicted drivers had to prove they had driven with an interlock for the last four months of their interlock requirement June/July 2018 24

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without any interlock violations before getting their full driving privileges restored.

As it became harder for impaired drivers in Washington to avoid interlocks, there were fewer repeat offenses. For first offenders arrested during the last quarter of 2012, the recidivism rate declined from an expected 7.7 percent without the law changes to 5.6 percent. The interlock installation rate was only 38 percent in that quarter. If all of these DUI offenders had installed interlocks, the recidivism rate could have shrunk to 2 percent.

Why did only 38 percent of impaired-driving offenders install interlocks even though doing so was a requirement for license reinstatement? Some people may

have continued to drive without a valid license. Others may have given up driving.

But one key reason is that, after the changes to the law, an increased number of first offenders had their charges reduced to alcohol-related negligent or reckless driving. Those offenses don’t require inter-lock orders, but they do count as prior offenses if a person is arrested again for impaired driving. When such convictions are excluded from the analysis, the installation rate increases to 54 percent. “Washington’s experience shows that more robust interlock laws can cut down on repeat offenses,� says Charles Farmer, IIHS vice president for research and statistical services and a coauthor of the study. “It also sug-

gests that such changes could have an even greater effect if loopholes that allow people to avoid interlocks by pleading to lesser offenses were closed. It’s a perfect example of why legislation, enforcement and adjudication need to work together for highway safety policies to achieve the desired result.�

For copies of ,+,&- %$)#)% " (',')(- "(,& %)$ - + *- +(!- +,+% +*#&* by E.R. Teoh et al. or &$,* ) - +*#'( ,)(- ,+,& *- %$)#)%-" (',')( "(,& %)$ - + *- )(- "- &$'!' '* (- !+,& by A.T. McCartt et al., email publications@iihs.org.

Details about interlock requirements in each state can be found at iihs.org/interlock-laws. CT #'*- *, ! - +*- %'*#&!- + $#- -

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BY BI L L S C H I FFN ER, C O N T R IB U T IN G E D I T O R

Drug Courts on the Front Lines In War on Opioids New hi-tech solutions on display at NADCP 2018

D

rug treatment programs for offenders on probation continue to help people stay out of jail if they avoid drugs, comply with supervision and pass regular tests to prove they are drug free. This practice saves the cost of incarceration and supports the offender’s rehabilitation within the community.

Research shows that court-monitored drug abuse treatment programs can help prevent offenders from committing new crimes. The success of the strategy however, requires much effort on the part of everyone involved in the criminal justice system (police, prosecutors, defense attorneys, probation officers and judges) to enforce the rules and respond to violations

quickly and consistently.

Terrence Walton, chief operating officer of the National Association of Drug Court Professionals (NADCP), reports that of the nearly 2.5 million people incarcerated in America about half of them are in jail because of drug use and addiction. “There are more than 3,000 drug courts across the nation to help those with substance-abuse disorders get and stay on the right side of the law,” said Walton during a recent interview with The Kentucky Network to Transform Teaching. He adds that drug court professionals from across the country are on the front lines in the opioid battle.

Walton believes it’s a better alternative to publicly fund drug treatment so people wouldn’t have to get arrested in order to get help.

He says people sent to drug courts are not hardened criminals but people whose addiction or mental health issues have caused their collision with the justice system.

“Many individuals are in treatment courts, this is really their only opportunity to access services. I wish that wasn’t true,” Walton says.

Opioid Abuse Hitting Courts Hard Becky Kelderhouse, general manager, supervision, at equivant notes that opioid abuse is having a dramatic effect on the drug courts.

“Over the last 8 to 12 months the opioid epidemic is impacting drug courts and their need for true evidence-based tools with advanced supervision capabilities. Opioid

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addiction and treatment is difficult and many communities are not equipped. Many drug courts are learning how best to supervise this type of an offender while planning effective treatments and keeping the cost burden off of the community.�

Tracking Outcomes Kirk Cizerle, chief executive officer at RecoveryTrek says tracking results is another growing issue facing the courts. “Tracking outcomes is challenging because there are so many data points and entities involved in drug court cases. There’s no blueprint for determining when drug courts are successful or not against relapses and re-arrests, which can occur months or years later. That’s why we were seeing so many criminal justice professionals during NADCP 2018. They were searching for answers to their questions about success rates and are interested in software innovations such as the ‘Recovery Data Project’ launched recently by Faces and Voices of Recovery and RecoveryTrek.�

A Bridge to a New Solution As the opioid epidemic continues to plague the nation, some recovering addicts credit the NSS-2 BRIDGE device with saving their lives in helping with withdrawal from the drugs. “Our vision is for every person in withdrawal, preparing for withdrawal, or suffering from postacute withdrawal symptoms (PAWS), to have access to this technology,� says Brian Carrico, chief executive officer at

Innovative Health Solutions (IHS). “Significantly reducing withdrawal symptoms lessens the dependency on opioids, allows for easier transition to Medically Assisted Treatment (MAT) and ultimately works as another tool to combat the opioid epidemic facing our country.�

He says that withdrawal symptoms from opioids can manifest quickly and include nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, abdominal pain, anxiety and sleeplessness. “Most often these symptoms are so painful and overwhelming, people turn back to opioids after only a few hours,� he explains. “The technology gives those suffering from opioid addiction an easier transition to all forms MAT,� says Carrico. “The device helps take away the fear of withdrawal and leads to a much higher success rate.�

In 2017, a drug court in Johnson County, Indiana, adopted the BRIDGE as part of the new drug treatment program for opioidaddicted offenders. To date, 6,000 patients have been treated using the BRIDGE in more 200 clinics in 31 states.

Here is a sample of some of the new solutions for drug courts that were at the recent NADCP 2018 in Houston, Texas:

program eligibility, treatment needs, supervision, and specific programming based on underlying criminogenic needs of adult and youth participants. The software enables phase enrollment, tracks participant progress and supports complete collaboration across your team of staff, judges and providers. ***+% #+()& ) % #+()& "+'$$+ $!+

Drug Courts On-Demand Training The National Association of Drug Court Professionals (NADCP) convened a national expert committee of researchers and practitioners to develop objective and measurable best practice standards for adult drug

Risk Assessment Tools The Northpointe Specialty Court solution by equivant is a complete package of scientifically validated risk and needs assessment and participant management tools. Its instruments and integrated case plans address evidence-based principles and improve decision accuracy for

courts, the Adult Drug Court Best Practices Standards. This training program from MHS reviews these best practice standards and the scientific evidence supporting their effectiveness and cost-effectiveness. ***+& +()& "+'$$+ !+ $$ June/July 2018x

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Smartphone App ConnectComply, an innovative new smartphone app from Call2Test, is said to make random drug test check-ins as easy as taking a selfie. Parole and probation officers find that ConnectComply’s geolocation feature provides an alternative to ankle bracelets and physical monitoring while ensuring program compliance.

Available for Android and iOS smartphones, ConnectComply

helps drug court administrators manage automated scheduling programs and fully comply with court directives. ConnectComply is based on an economical, cloudbased system and includes the Call2Test proprietary algorithm for randomized selection. ***+( #% #+()& ) ( #% #+()& "+'''+ + "!!

Opioid Addiction Treatment The NSS-2 BRIDGE device, pioneered by medical technology firm

Innovative Health Solutions (IHS), is placed behind the ear with microneedle arrays, which percutaneously implant in and around the ear.

Research study results of the technology show an 80% reduction of withdrawal symptoms in as little as 30 minutes. The BRIDGE is a patented technology and is prescription only. Last fall, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration cleared the device for neurologic use with an indication to aid in the reduction of opioid withdrawal symptoms. ***+ +()& &% +()&

Drug Testing Services Tomo Drug Testing provides premiere collections to community-based programs. The company offers customized solutions to

facilities. They have the ability to work with the choice of an outside lab or Tomo’s and can also administer point-of-care instant testing.

In short, they simply want to help your team use their time for what they were hired to do and leave the dirty work to them. ***+ ) #% # +()& "+' +! "+'

Monitoring Solutions RecoveryTrek provides cloudbased, HIPAA-compliant, customizable, monitoring technology solutions to help organizations, professionals, and individuals stay on track and accountable throughout the substance use disorder recovery journey. At NADCP18 RecoveryTrek urged members to use their grant dollars wisely by implementing customized soft-

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Testing Protocol for DUI Courts

BY MI C H A E L G R O H S , CO N T R I B U T I N G E D IT O R

There is a saying in the industry that goes if you have seen one drug court, you’ve seen one drug court.

Drug courts learn from each other. They share successes and failures with each other. They might look alike, but like a fingerprint, each is individual in how they work with participants.

Addiction is equally individual and complex, and one of the most important tools a drug court uses is the drug test. Drug tests are a tool, not a weapon.

They are not meant to tell a participant “gotcha.”

They are an essential tool in monitoring abstinence for people who need it. As Paul Cary, M.S. wrote in his chapter in the National Drug Court Institute’s % ) # ( % ( )) drug testing is an objective way to determine drug use. In order for adjudication to be fair and appropriate, testing procedures must be “scientifically valid and forensically defensible.”

Judge Shaun Floerke is the founding member of the South St. Louis County DWI Court in Duluth, Minn., and is the presiding judge as well as a member of the Drug Court Initiative. The court is one of the National Academy Courts, which serve as a national model for DWI courts. He explains the policies and procedures for effective testing.

As of January 1, 2017, drug courts in Minnesota are referred to as treatment courts. A DWI Court is dedicated to changing the behavior of alcohol and other drug dependent offenders arrested for driving under the influence. The program is mandatory for all felony offenders and is divided into five phases, the first 60 days long and the others 90 days. In Phase 1 participants are required to report to court every week, call the UA line daily, and comply with random home visits and urinalysis and preliminary breath tests as required by probation, which is at a very minimum twice a week.

The Court’s Evaluation Report notes that “Abstinence is monitored by frequent alcohol and other drug testing. It notes that drug and alcohol testing are important components for both supervision and accountability. This component encourages “frequent” testing but does not specifically define what

“frequent” means. Research on courts nationally found that drug testing that occurs randomly at least twice a week is the most effective. If testing occurs more frequently (more than three times a week), “the random component becomes less important as it is difficult to find time to use in between frequent tests.” Every home visit will include a breath test.

They also use Outreach Smartphone Monitoring (OSM). Clients are enrolled via Outreach Admin in which the court can determine what services they wish to use, such as blood alcohol content, assessments, GPS tracking, incentives, who to notify in case of non-compliance, and the number of tests a day.

During their tests (called check-ins) they will be required to complete a short video showing their compliance. (The provider monitors all of the videos, not the court.) Outreach will notify the court when there is a need for action to be taken.

In Judge Floerke’s court, this is more than just daily testing and can be done as many as two, three, or four times a day. Alcohol can dissipate quickly, so regular testing is crucial.

The program, says Judge Floerke, costs about $2 a day and he notes that the phone is “just a little thing they drop in their pocket” and not as intrusive as an ankle bracelet or other tracking device, and on its own can serve as a reminder for compliance. (Think about how many times a day people look at their phones.) There is also about a $100 a month fee that goes to UA testing, but Judge Floerke points out that the tests actually cost more than that. The remainder is generally covered by grants and forfeiture money.

Relapse, says the Judge, is part of the detail. It can be expected, and relapsing is not an automatic expulsion from the program. (Getting another DUI while enrolled is.) In case of a failed test, “We never act on preliminary tests unless they confess.” About 70% do acknowledge non-compliance. “The science is behind the confirmation.”

There was one example several years ago in which a participant who worked at a car wash tested positive, but it was the chemicals from work that had set

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it off. He spent the weekend in jail despite not having used. Now the team involved decides what the solution is. An increase in the level of care? A new treatment plan? Addiction and treatment is complex. As they say, if you have seen one drug court, you’ve seen one drug court.

Charles “Chuck” Gollop was a Bloomington, Minn., police officer for nearly 20 years and later a probation officer. Now an adjunct professor in criminal justice, he was the supervisor for the Bloomington Coordinated Home Visits, so he has seen two of the three sides of DUI Courts.

He notes that clients were tested in four stages that included at least two random weekly tests chosen by a color wheel. If the wheel spun blue, the participants color coded blue were tested. They used urine for mandated drops and breath tests for home visits.

They also used ethyl glucuronide (EtG) testing, which has numerous advantages such as convenience, accuracy, and longevity, but a few drawbacks

such as a potential of a false-positive from incidental products such as mouthwash, insecticides, hand sanitizers, and fragrances. This could be problematic for zero tolerance programs.

Both Floerke and Gollop recognize the uniqueness of treatment courts. By being in the program, the offender has already pled guilty, so sanctions are not necessarily heavily argued. The graduation rate, says Judge Floerke, is 90%, which is among the highest in the country. They found a nearly 70% reduction in recidivism, and the work, says Judge Floerke, is very rewarding. The courts are giving offenders the tools to live in recovery rather than fear repercussion.

“Our clients are really beautiful people, and we get to watch them reclaim their lives.” Gollop agrees with the success and the reward and furthers that much of the success is owed to treatment court judges.

Certain judges have more pull in the community.

One judge he worked with was himself in recovery.

“Everybody loved him. Everybody.”

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AD INDEX Page No.

Alkermes ..............................6 Art Signworks ....................22 Call2Test ..............................4 cFive Solutions, formerly Capita Technologies ......11 Compunetix .......................25 Computing System Innovations ....................17 eCourts ..............................21 Equivant.............................15 Infax.....................................5 Mvix ...................................29 NACM- National Association of Court Managers ........33 ncourt ................................31 Ontario Systems ................13 Slingshot Technologies .....24 StunCuff Enterprises, Inc.....4 Thomson Reuters.................2 Tribridge ............................35 Tybera ................................19 Tyler Technologies.............36 This advertisers index is provided as a service to our readers only. The publisher does not assume liability for errors or omissions.

ware solutions and featured a hands-on demonstration of their MobileTrek smartphone app and MobileBAC Bluetooth-enabled breath alcohol-monitoring device. ***+ %() % # % +()& "+ + + '$$

Online Testing TestDay is an internet-based subscription service that fully automates criminal justice needs for random drug test scheduling, test resulting and total compliance reporting. Functionality runs from automated call-in, chain of custody generation, compliance reporting through test result integration into a facilities court management system. ***+#% # +()& "+'$$+' !+

Care Management Tools Averhealth offers innovative solutions for substance use disorder monitoring and treatment. Their predictive, patient-centered individualized monitoring and care management tools are said to combine

the power of technology, and the collaboration of a dedicated support team to reclaim lives, unite families and strengthen communities. ***+ % % # +()& "+'!!+!'$+ "$!

Drug Screening From Fingerprints The Smartox fingerprint-based Drug Screening System is non-invasive, dignified, and screens for multiple drug groups simultaneously.

Fingerprint sample collection takes five seconds and results are available in less than 10 minutes. The two-part system comprises: Intelligent Fingerprinting Cartridge, a tamper-evident fingerprint sample collection cartridge that screens for four groups of drugs, and the Intelligent Fingerprinting Reader 1000, which is a portable, touchscreen-operated unit that analyzes the fingerprint sample, providing a positive or negative result for each drug in the test. ***+ & #) +()& "+'''+ ""+ $!

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C O U RTS I N T H E M E D I A

VET COURT JUDGE SPENDS A NIGHT IN JAIL WITH A FELLOW VET The minute Joe Serna walked in to the Veterans Treatment Court in Fayetteville, N.C., he could feel his shoulders tense up. He had come to turn himself in.

So begins the story “An Army of Two� by Robert Kiener in the April edition of . The story continues: Six months earlier, Serna had been arrested for impaired driving. As part of this sentence, he was required to report to Judge Lou Olivera’s court every two weeks to take a urine test and prove he hadn’t been drinking.

Serna had passed every biweekly screening—until the week before.

Then, he tried to bluff his way out of trouble. If Judge Olivera suspected anything he didn’t let on. Both men were veterans and Olivera had come to know and admire Serna as he participated in the court’s program to help vets with addiction problems.

Though their lives had gone in opposite directions since they’d left the military, they were still connected by their service. And that was what ate at Serna, what had brought him back to Olivera’s court a week after his lie. As beads of perspiration rolled down his forehead, Serna stood before the judge and said: “I lied, Judge. I was drinking.�

After three tours of duty in Afghanistan, two purple hearts and lots of best buddies losing their lives, 39-year-old Joe Serna had left the Army in 2013 with 18 years of service. He had settled down in Fayetteville with his wife and three children and was studying accounting at nearby Methodist University.

But in his mind he had never really left the army; he was tormented with nightmares and flashbacks.

There was the time where his convoy was ambushed and he carried a comrade through heavy fire.

And another where he suffered shrapnel from a suicide bomber that traveled through much of his face and knocked out his teeth. But the worst was when his mine-resistant truck toppled off the road sideways into a canal and he could not unbuckle his seat belt. A buddy saved him by moving him to an air pocket, only to perish himself.

Diagnosed with PTSD while still in the military, but concerned the diagnosis could ruin his career, he turned to drinking to quiet his demons. Still, Serna never gave up the fight and the judge knew that.

On the day when Serna stood in the courtroom to admit he had lied about drinking, the judge wasn’t angry. He was moved. “One of the main aims of the Veteran’s Court is to build trust and relationships with the veterans who appear before us,� Olivera says. He listened to Serna’s confession that day and decided on the punishment: one night in the local jail. But what he didn’t realize was that Serna suffered from claustrophobia as a result of the near drowning incident in the truck. The jail had no open cell, that is, one with bars instead of a steel door. So the judge called in a favor at a nearby jail.

An hour later Serna was dressed in an orange jumpsuit and locked into the one-man cell. The steel door closed and he felt his shoulders tightening, his heart beating faster.

He knew he would soon be flashing back to that armored truck, feeling helpless as the water rose up to his chin. His mind was racing and he thought: How do I get out of here?

Then the door jangled as the jailer unlocked it. Standing in the open doorway was Judge Olivera, carry-

ing two dinner trays. Serna was confused. But a few minutes later, after the jailer brought in a two-inch-thick foam mattress and once again locked the heavy steel door behind him, Serna understood. The judge, a fellow veteran, realizing that this cell was no better than the first one, had decided to spend the night.

Olivera’s compassion nearly drove Serna to tears. But he managed to regain his composure enough to beg Olivera to take the cot and let him sleep on the floor. “Call me Lou, Joe,� the judge said. “I have slept on the floor before. In fact, you and I have slept in worse places.�

They traded war stories as they tucked into jail-issued meat loaf and mashed potatoes. The two talked for hours about their service, their families and their hopes for the future. At around 1 am Olivera heard Serna’s breathing slow, and he even began to snore. He’ll be okay now, he thought. He’ll be fine.

This spring, Serna was expected to graduate from Methodist University, and was moving to California to run his father’s construction business.

For his part, Judge Olivera insists that any veteran would have reacted to Serna’s plot just as he did. He is fond of telling a story he once read about a veteran with PTSD: “The veteran was in a deep hole.

First his family threw down a rope, but he wouldn’t come out. Then his therapist threw down a rope, but again he didn’t come out. Then his minister, with the same result.

Finally a second veteran came by, and he, too, threw down a rope. But this time, he climbed into the hole with the first vet. ‘What are you doing down here with me?’ the vet with PTSD asked. The second vet answered, ‘I’m here to climb out with you.’�