FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                          AG
FRIDAY, MARCH 31, 1995                             (202) 616-0189
                                               TDD (202) 514-1888

                                 
      SENATE UNANIMOUSLY RESTORES FUNDING FOR DRUG COURTS
                                
  AG Reno Lauds Bipartisan Effort to Save Critical Crime Bill
                    Program from Rescission

     Attorney General Janet Reno today praised the Senate's move to
save the crime bill's drug court program from the rescission axe. 
In a unanimous consent vote late Thursday night, the Senate moved
in bipartisan fashion to restore $10 million in funding this fiscal
year for the program, which would enable cities to set up
specialized courts to help break the link between substance abuse
and criminal activity.

     "The Senate made a bipartisan decision last night, and they
made the right decision. And they did it because they know that
drug courts make sense, and they are tough on crime," said Reno. 
"Most of all, they work."  Reno also commended Senators Joseph
Biden and Ernest Hollings for their leadership in restoring funding
for the drug courts.

     The 1994 Crime Bill provided $1 billion in funding for drug
courts, but the House of Representatives voted in February to
defund the program after this fiscal year.  In March, the House
voted to eliminate this year's $28 million in federal drug court
funding. 

     Drug courts are designed to force criminals out of the cycle
of drug addiction before they return to the streets.  Offenders
must undergo mandatory, periodic drug testing, mandatory substance
abuse treatment, and are subject to graduated sanctions for failing
to show satisfactory progress in their treatment regimens.  Only
non-violent offenders are eligible to participate.

 "More than half of those who enter the criminal justice have
substance abuse problems," said Reno.  "Studies show that drug
courts help offenders kick the habit and break the cycle of
addiction and recidivism.  That's why they are supported by a
bipartisan spectrum of prosecutors, judges, public defenders, law
enforcement officials, and treatment specialists from across the
country." 

     On March 15, Reno and Office of National Drug Control Policy
Director Lee Brown visited the D.C. drug court program --
acknowledged as one of the nation's most innovative -- which
assigns drug felons to a program of intensive coerced abstinence
and treatment for up to eight months.  They called on the Congress
to restore drug court funding.

                               ###




95-180