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/.

-30-