Program Offers Alternative To Prison
Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown addressed last Tuesday, May 21, 14 graduates of the Queens Drug Treatment Court program established to provide an alternative to the incarceration of nonviolent drug offenders.
The district attorney commended the graduates for their achievement and offered warm praise for the efforts of criminal justice professionals in the courts, the defense bar, prosecutors and treatment providers who together endeavor to reach out and change lives.
“Today is very much a day of celebration. Fourteen perhaps otherwise prison-bound individuals have successfully completed our Queens Drug Treatment Court program. Each of you should be very proud of what you have accomplished-you are true success stories and all of us are truly happy for you,” Brown said in his remarks last Tuesday. “I am very proud of our Drug Treatment Court. I very much believe in it. And I am equally proud of its graduates. I know how very hard each of you has worked and how many obstacles you have had to overcome to successfully complete the program. I have tremendous respect for what you have accomplished and am certain that you will have continued success. You are very much to be commended.”
The district attorney told graduates and guests who filled a first-floor courtroom at 125-01 Queens Blvd. in Kew Gardens for the hour-long ceremony that the Drug Treatment Court has proven to be a tremendous success story and is making a significant difference in the fight for public safety.
“In the approximate 15 years that the court has been in operation we have-including those graduating today-graduated some 2,200 people from our program,” Brown said. “It
