Drug Court judge to speak at Rotary Club of Upcountry Maui on Jan. 4

For Immediate Release:
Dec. 27, 2007

Contact:
David Raatz, Administrative Assistant
Friends of the Maui Drug Court
friendsmauidrugcourt@gmail.com
808.276.3488

Drug Court judge to speak at Rotary Club of Upcountry Maui on Jan. 4

WAILUKU, Maui, Hawai`i - Judge Shackley F. Raffetto will speak about the Maui/Moloka`i Drug Court program before the Rotary Club of Upcountry Maui at 7:30 a.m. on Jan. 4, Friends of the Maui Drug Court announced today.

The meeting will be at the Kamehameha Schools Dining Hall (Ke`eaumoku papa`i aheahe) located at 275 A`apuio Parkway, Pukalani. The public is welcome.

Judge Raffetto has presided over the Maui/Moloka`i Drug Court since its inception in 2000. Drug Court provides non-violent criminal defendants an opportunity to receive judicially supervised substance-abuse treatment as an alternative to incarceration.

Friends of the Maui Drug Court is a charitable organziation founded in 1998 to seek the creation of a Drug Court within the State Second Circuit Court, based in Wailuku, as police, attorneys, healthcare providers and concerned members of the public realized that the traditional law-enforcement model wasn't working for the community or for substance-abusing offenders. The organization's mission now is to support the Drug Court by providing funding for client services and training for Drug Court professionals.

Judge Raffetto was appointed to the Circuit Court bench in 1994. He's a former member of U.S. Naval Reserve Judge Advocate General Corps and currently works with Defense Institute for Legal Studies to offer training and advisement to jurists in emerging democracies.

Judge Raffetto has said that the Drug Court program is the most cost-effective means of preventing alcohol- and drug-abusing offenders from returing to the criminal-justice system. The State Department of Public Safety has estimated that about 85 percent of inmates have serious substance-abuse issues, and Judge Raffetto estimates that 80 percent of crimes are related to substance abuse.

Drug Court provides an intensive 48- to 60-week program of substance-abuse treatment. A series of milestones must be passed for graduation, including negative alcohol and drug tests for a consecutive 90-day period and the performance of community service.

Drug Court graduates have a recidivism rate of less than 15 percent. The national criminal population has a recidivism of about 80 percent.

The Maui/Moloka`i Drug Court celebrated its 20th graduation ceremony last month. Since 2000, 244 Drug Court clients have graduated.

The Drug Court currently serves 110 clients. Judge Raffetto says he's hoping to build on the program's success and expand the Drug Court in the future.

More information is available at the Friends of the Maui Drug Court website at http://mauidrugcourt.info/.

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"Richland County drug court aims to turn around the 'war on drugs'"

From today's Mansfield (Ohio) News-Journal:

"Sending young people to prison for using drugs wasn't working," [Judge James Henson] said. "We were getting the same people out that we were sending in."

. . .

"We've seen so much growth in drug crimes over the last two decades," [Chief probation Officer Dave Leitenberger] said. "The long-term problem has to be solved through behavior change and treatment. You have to offer them treatment and an opportunity to live a normal life."

That's why drug court was created.

State's grants-in-aid process described . . .

. . . former legislative aide Doug White:

http://poinography.com/?p=5322

"Foundation gives $75K to drug court" (Mississippi)

From today's Hattiesburg American:

"We're doing this because we believe it helps people. . . Drugs are a scourge. Drug courts are a weapon in our arsenal that we can use to save people."

USA Today: "Drug courts offer offenders alternatives"

There's an important story about drug courts in USA Today - the nation's largest daily newspaper:

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-12-20-alternativecourts_N.htm

The courts, which are multiplying across the USA, began 18 years ago as an experiment to attack a growing crack cocaine epidemic in Miami. They rely on treatment, rigorous supervision and accountability as a way to help, for the most part, non-violent drug users rather than sending them to prison.

"The Power of Drug Courts"

From the Texas Observer:

For nearly 20 years, Joel Bennett shuttled drug addicts through courtrooms. He dutifully sent them off to prison, first as a prosecutor and later as a state district judge in Austin, though he knew he was accomplishing little. Incarceration wouldn’t puncture their addiction. They would use again. Predictably, case files bearing familiar names would pile again on his desk. A sense of futility hung over the exercise. “What I saw was the same people returning to the system over and over again. And their children coming into the system,” Bennett says. “No one talked about breaking the cycle of crime.” Bennett recognized, as an ever-growing number of judges do, that to keep drug offenders from landing back in prison, he had to help addicts free themselves from the fog of substance abuse.

Friends of the Maui Drug Court president to speak at Aloha House celebration

For Immediate Release:
Dec. 4, 2007

Contact:
David Raatz, Administrative Assistant, Friends of the Maui Drug Court
808.276.3488
friendsmauidrugcourt@gmail.com

Friends of the Maui Drug Court president to speak at Aloha House celebration; Schlesinger offers unique perspective on Mayors Tavares

KAHULUI, Hawai`i - Dr. Larry Schlesinger, board president of Friends of the Maui Drug Court, will keynote the Aloha House 30th anniversary celebration at Maui Beach Hotel tomorrow night.

Aloha House provides substance-abuse and mental-health treatment for clients throughout Maui County. Aloha House serves Maui/Moloka`i Drug Court clients under a contract with the Judiciary.

Maui County Mayor Charmaine Tavares will also be speaking at the event. In 1987, Schlesinger spoke at the Aloha House 10th anniversary celebration, along with then-Mayor Hannibal Tavares, Charmaine's late father.

"I am privileged to help honor Aloha House's three decades of great work for the Maui County community," said Schlesinger, believed to be the world's only board-certified plastic surgeon who is also certified in addiction medicine. "It is a thrill to be joined by a Mayor Tavares once again, 20 years later.

"The Tavares family's historical and continuing support for addiction recovery is a special gift to the people of Maui County and the State of Hawai`i. I am honored to provide a link from Tavares father to daughter in the history of Aloha House."

Friends of the Maui Drug Court is the charitable organization that supports the programs of the Maui/Moloka`i Drug Court of the Second Circuit Court in Wailuku.

"The Aloha House's professional and compassionate staff plays a vital role in the Drug Court's success," Schlesinger said. "The Drug Court is able to provide effective treatment instead of incarceration to non-violent offenders because of Aloha House's excellence."

Schlesinger is also president of Pu`ulu Lapa`au, a non-profit organization that assists impaired and disruptive physicians in Hawai`i in dealing with chemical dependency and anger management.

Schlesinger said his purpose in life - his raison d'etre - is "to stay clean and sober and help other alcoholics and drug addicts to achieve sobriety."

That's what's driven him to not only professional success, but also to more than two decades of philanthropy and volunteerism for the benefit of Maui County's people.

"I am a living, breathing example that long-term successful recovery is possible," said Schlesinger, who has 24 years of continuous and successful recovery and who is also a visiting professor at three medical schools.

Schlesinger was named Physician of the Year by the Hawai`i Medical Association in 2000, largely in recognition of his volunteer work with homeless people, assisting Judge Shackley Raffetto in founding the Maui Drug Court and helping impaired physicians throughout the state.

"But if you look at it closely, all I did was follow the rules I was taught in 1983 – don't drink or use, and help other drug addicts and alcoholics to achieve sobriety," Schlesinger said. "What I am saying is that I was chosen Physician of the Year because I was a drug-addicted alcoholic in recovery – ain't that amazing!"

Schlesinger said he wants to help other addicts feel a similar sense of amazement as they embark on the "wild journey" of recovery. He commends the dedicated community members - such as Judge Raffetto, the Mayors Tavares and Aloha House clients and staff - who have helped provide purpose to so many lives.

For more information, please visit the following websites:

Aloha House -
http://www.alohahousemaui.com/

Pu`ulu Lapa`au -
http://puululapaau.info/

Friends of the Maui Drug Court -
http://mauidrugcourt.info/
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New board members appointed for Friends of the Maui Drug Court

For Immediate Release:
Dec. 3, 2007

Contact:
David Raatz, Administrative Assistant, Friends of the Maui Drug Court
808.276.3488
friendsmauidrugcourt@gmail.com

New board members appointed for Friends of the Maui Drug Court

KAHULUI, Hawai'i - Friends of the Maui Drug Court has appointed five new board members for one-year terms, President Dr. Larry Schlesinger announced today.

Founded in 1998, Friends of the Maui Drug Court is the charitable organization that supports the programs of the Maui/Moloka'i Drug Court of the Second Circuit Court in Wailuku.

Schlesinger said the new board members are attorneys Randall H. Endo, Donald S. Guzman and Kirstin M. Hamman, Sen. J. Kalani English and James Hirano, Offender Services Administrator of the Maui Community Correctional Center.

The new appointees join Schlesinger, Vice President Dr. Kevin Kunz and Secretary/Treasurer Arlene Uchigakiuchi on the Friends of the Maui Drug Court board of directors.

Friends of the Maui Drug Court seeks to reduce the incidence of substance abuse and crime in Maui County by raising and disbursing funds in support of the Drug Court's clients and professionals.

The Drug Court provides an opportunity for non-violent offenders to avoid or reduce incarceration on the condition that they complete an intensive substance abuse treatment program.

More information is available on the Friends of the Maui Drug Court website at http://mauidrugcourt.info/.

Tax-deductible donations can be sent to:

Friends of the Maui Drug Court
33 Lono Ave. #300
Kahului HI 96732

Drug Court Judge Shackley F. Raffetto is available for interviews and speaking engagements. Please contact David Raatz, Administrative Assistant, Friends of the Maui Drug Court, at 808.276.3488 or friendsmauidrugcourt@gmail.com.

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