WHAT: Drug Court Commencement Ceremony

WHEN: Wednesday, August 17, 2016, 11:30am

WHERE: Moultrie Courthouse, Courtroom C-10, 500 Indiana Avenue, NW

WHO: Judge Gregory Jackson, DC Superior Court (Presiding Judge, Drug Court) Cliff Keenan, Director, Pretrial Services Agency for the District of Columbia Horace Anding, Unit Manager at the Re-entry and Sanctions Center

Drug court is a specially designed court calendar with the goal of achieving a reduction in recidivism and substance abuse among nonviolent substance abusing defendants. The program also strives to increase the defendant’s likelihood of successful habilitation through early, continuous, and intense judiciallysupervised treatment, mandatory periodic drug testing, community supervision, and use of appropriate sanctions and other rehabilitation services.

Eligible drug-addicted persons may request to be transferred to Drug Court in lieu of traditional criminal justice system case processing. Drug Courts keep individuals in treatment while supervising them closely. While in drug court, participants are provided with intensive treatment and other services they require to get and stay clean and sober; held accountable by the Drug Court judge for meeting their obligations to the court, society, themselves and their families; tested for drug use; required to appear in court frequently so that the judge may review their progress; and rewarded for doing well or sanctioned when they do not live up to their obligations. For more information, including fact sheets and recent articles on drug courts, see www.allrise.org/media.

NOTE: J. Jackson and Dir. Keenan will be available after the graduation for interviews. Cameras and recorders must be cleared in advance; participants may only be photographed or interviewed with their permission.