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Drug court has 12 participants
May is Drug Court Month; May 1 to 5 is Law Week
The CNMI Drug Court has 12 active participants and seven from the first batch will graduate this year, according to Superior Court Associate Judge Teresa Kim-Tenorio.
Kim-Tenorio said they have 12 more awaiting clinical assessments and they have 20 or more waiting to be entertained.
“So we have a long list,” said the judge in an interview shortly after Friday’s proclamation signing declaring May as CNMI Drug Court Month and May 1 to 5 as Law Week.
Kim-Tenorio said that Drug Court Month is very important because it raises awareness in the community so that they understand exactly what the drug court is doing, and what participants do so they get continued support.
“This is celebrated nationwide,” the judge said, adding that the national association of drug court professionals sent them a packet for drug court activities and provided the language for the proclamation, among other things.
Kim-Tenorio said it ideally it takes 18 months for a participant to graduate. Here, it’s a year and six months and three random drug tests every week for 18 months.
“So these people will be drug tested more than you and I will be in our entire life. In addition, they do individual counseling, group counseling. They attend any AA meeting. They volunteer in our community. They do journaling. They do group activities. They have more therapy,” she said.
There are now 3,142 treatment courts nationwide.
The judge noted in the proclamation that 75 percent of treatment court graduates are not re-arrested.
“Treatment courts are the cornerstone of justice reform sweeping the nation,” Kim-Tenorio said in the proclamation.
Superior Court deputy clerk I Kristy R. Diaz read the drug court proclamation during the ceremony at the CNMI Supreme Court. Drug court manager Ta Ann Kabua discussed the future of the program.
With respect to the Law Week proclamation, acting governor Victor B. Hocog, Justice Alexandro C. Castro, and other justices and judges signed the proclamation. CNMI Bar Association president Charles E. Brasington read the proclamation.
Law Day is commemorated in the CNMI with the annual Junior and High School Mock Trial competitions, essay and poster contests, the 33rd annual Attorney General’s Cup Speech Competition, and “Judges in the Classroom” program.
Brasington said promoting public understanding of the roots of freedom is an important component in the civic education of citizens of the U.S. and of the CNMI.
