OPINION: DEFUND Washoe County’s “Specialty Courts.” Address the Real Problem.

The 14th Amendment’s requirement for equal treatment under the law – for everyone, no longer exists in Nevada. That Constitutional provision has been subverted for years by what are known as “Specialty Courts.”

Washoe County is a typical example. Historically, it had only two basic types of courts:

·      District Courts handled crimes that carried the highest financial or criminal penalties.

·      Justice Courts handled crimes that carried lesser penalties.

When a defendant appeared before a judge in either of these courts, a standard set of procedures was followed to ensure justice was served.

·      Defendants were charged.

·      Opposing attorneys presented evidence arguing for guilt or innocence.

·      Judges or juries issued a verdict.

·      Judges issued sentences for guilty verdicts

The historical blindfolded figure of Lady Justice, together with the Constitutional presence of the 14th Amendment, provided judges with both a moral and a literal imperative regarding their interaction with defendants. Judges were to act solely as impartial arbiters – not as counselors or mentors for the accused. Determining guilt or innocence was to be based on facts and reason, not on personal bias, socio-economic status, appearances, etc.

Washoe County is undermining the historical judicial standard for justice and the 14th Amendment by implementing a growing number of Specialty Courts.

Completely separate from the traditional court system, local lawbreakers now have the opportunity to request their cases be heard in any one of 7 or more different Specialty Courts. Specialty Courts screen and accept clients based on outside factors in a defendant’s life, aside from the specific crime they were arrested for.

Specialty Courts typically involve a judge and “treatment team” working together on each defendant’s case. The primary focus is on “problem-solving,” rather than guilt or innocence.

The sentencing decision is determined by a treatment team’s collective input, rather than a single judge. Obviously, defendants favor this approach. It offers the opportunity to blame their criminal behavior on difficult situations in their lives, and thus lobby for judicial sympathy and more lenient sentences than they would receive in traditional court.

Washoe County’s Variety of Specialty Courts

·      Felony DUI Specialty Court – provides individuals charged with a third DUI, a FOURTH opportunity to avoid a prison sentence, continue to drive drunk, and risk killing someone.

·      Veterans Specialty Court – provides individuals who have served in the military a lifetime of more lenient sentencing options if they are convicted of misdemeanors or felonies.

·      Mental Health Specialty Court – 25% of American adults experience a “mental illness” issue every year. That means that out of Washoe County’s 383,000 adults, over 90,000 of them could qualify for this more lenient court if they break the law. What would happen if they all decided to opt for the Specialty Court experience?

·      “Homeless” (aka “Community”) Specialty Court – Never have liberal judges been more scammed by more recalcitrant vagrant defendants. Never has a court given more absurdly soft alternative sentencing with a higher failure rate (80%). Wisely, the County recently decided to pull the plug on this multi-million dollar fiasco.

·      “H.E.R. Specialty Court” (for women only) – You can qualify for this court if you’re a female, if you believe that “trauma” in your life is what led you to commit crimes, and if you think that this court’s “gender responsive services” can help you.

In addition to H.E.R. Court’s sexually biased foundation, there are two other large problems with its qualifying criteria:

1) If we use the dictionary definition of “trauma” (“a deeply distressing or disturbing experience”), what woman wouldn’t qualify as “traumatized,” and be able to demand her case be adjudicated in this softer-sentencing court?

2) How will this court deal with transgender women applicants, or men who simply may “identify” as women, neither of which are biological women?

Other Specialty Courts in Washoe Count

·      Specialty Drug courts for adult offenders.

·      Specialty Drug courts for young adult offenders.

·      Prison Re-entry Specialty Court for non-violent inmates seeking an early release.

·      Medication-Assisted Treatment Specialty Court”: available to people whose criminal behavior is connected with drug/alcohol abuse … which is about 80% of all the people who commit crimes.

What’s Wrong with Specialty Courts?

·      Some Specialty Courts require payment of large fees and weekly attendance at meetings/counseling sessions. Not all defendants can afford to pay the fees to qualify for the special treatment, nor do their work schedules allow time to attend follow-up meetings for up to 5 years.

·      There is not enough meeting space, funding, or personnel to allow everyone who commits similar crimes to be admitted to Specialty Courts and receive the same special treatment, which violates the 14th Amendment.

·      Specialty Courts replace the established model of one judge per defendant, with an entire team of social workers, counselors, therapists, doctors, etc. who have an inappropriate amount of involvement and influence on the ultimate decision of guilt-or-innocence and sentencing.

·      Specialty court judges can be involved in directing and manipulating a defendant’s life for up to several years. The judge becomes a de facto, state-sponsored “mommy or daddy”, as opposed to simply hearing the criminal evidence, rendering a verdict and sentence, and leaving the convicted individual to direct their own future.

·      Most of the Specialty Courts deal with defendants’ drug/alcohol abuse. The courts thoroughly embrace the “disease theory” of addiction when working with the defendants. Addicted defendants are taught that they’re just “victims of their illness.” Disease theory promotes the harmful belief that weak moral/spiritual values and personal responsibility have little, if anything, to do with a person’s addiction and crime issues.

SPECIALTY COURTS DON’T WORK!

·      Too Expensive and Not Replicable on a Large Scale – The cost of the large treatment teams used by Specialty Courts could never be afforded on a county-wide basis.

·      Manipulated Statistics – The success rates claimed by Specialty Courts are extremely subjective and susceptible to manipulation. This is similar to Washoe County’s false statistics regarding the CARES homeless program.

·      Specialty Courts Avoid the Real Problem – A majority of the defendants who fill ALL our Washoe County courts share a common profile:

o  Low education levels

o  Poor school attendance and behavior

o  Years of early drug/alcohol abuse

o  A history of aggressive, violent behavior and no respect for the law

o  No record of consistent, successful employment

WASHOE COUNTY’S SOLUTION:  DEFUND ALL SPECIALTY COURTS

·      The millions of dollars wasted annually on Specialty Court funding need to be redirected into a partnership with Washoe County School District.

·      The specific goal of the partnership would be to establish a program that prevents and solves the aforementioned predictors of future criminal behavior in children.

If the County government and County public schools pursued this direction, crime and substance abuse in adults would significantly decrease. As this trend continued, fewer courts of any kind would be needed.

Speak Up, Nevada! What’s on Your Mind? Send us your opinion!

Got the inside scoop on something happening in Nevada? Or the country? Do you have thoughts about life in Nevada that are too good to keep to yourself? Whether it’s a hot take on our politics, crime, education, or even the secret to surviving our summers, we’re all ears! Swing them our way at editor@thenevadaglobe.com. Come on, give us the scoop on what makes Nevada tick—or what ticks you off. Let’s make some noise and have some fun with it!

*************************

Legal Disclaimer

The opinions expressed in this article, authored by Paul White, are solely those of the author and do not reflect the views or positions of Nevada Globe. This content is provided for informational purposes only and has not been endorsed by Nevada Globe. We make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability, or availability with respect to the content contained on this site for any purpose. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk.

Nevada Globe is not responsible for, and expressly disclaims all liability for, damages of any kind arising out of use, reference to, or reliance on any information contained within the article. No guarantee is given that the information provided in this article is correct, complete, or up-to-date.

Although this article may include links providing direct access to other Internet resources, including websites, Nevada Globe is not responsible for the accuracy or content of information contained in these sites.

Links from Nevada Globe to third-party sites do not constitute an endorsement by Nevada Globe of the parties or their products and services. The appearance on the website of advertisements and product or service information does not constitute an endorsement by Nevada Globe, and Nevada Globe has not investigated the claims made by any advertiser.