Senate Journal: Page 64: Wednesday, January 13, 1999

  parents and married couples, college students, factory workers, homemakers
  and
  teenagers.  Drug addiction exists in rural Iowa as well as urban Iowa.

  Drug addiction overlaps with child abuse and neglect.  Children often end up
  in
  foster care or with relatives because they have been abused by their drug
  addicted
  parents or by others in the household while the parents are in a drug
  induced haze.
  Nor is it unusual for children to be neglected while their parents feed
  their drug
  addiction.  In many cases, parental rights are eventually terminated.

  Drug addiction is the root of many violent crimes.  One of our judges told
  me of a
  sixteen-year-old boy who was a normal, good natured child until he became
  hooked on
  meth.  When his mother confronted him about the drug, he threatened to douse
  her
  with lighter fluid and set her on fire.  Later, he did.

  Drug addiction is linked to domestic violence.   A judge in eastern Iowa
  told me of
  four children whose meth addicted father rammed his vehicle into a car
  carrying them,
  their mother and a domestic abuse advocate.  The children were traumatized.
  Despite
  the dangerous situation, the mother later reunited with her husband and the
  children
  eventually had to be placed in foster care.

  When dealing with drug addicts, our traditional punitive measures tend to be
  ineffective.  A judge in southern Iowa told me that meth is so addictive
  that
  probationers routinely fail drug testing even when they are given ten days
  advance
  notice of the test.  Many addicts return to their addiction as soon as they
  are released
  from jail or prison.  Many addicts commit more crimes to support their
  habits.  And
  many addicts end up back in court again and again.

  There is obviously no single solution to the problem. Some judges are
  exploring
  innovative approaches which strike at the heart of the problem-the
  addiction.  For
  instance, Judge Linda Reade in Polk County emphasizes treatment of
  drug-addicted
  defendants in addition to punitive measures.  Judge Reade says that this
  therapeutic
  approach is a better way to deal with drug-addicted defendants because it
  focuses on
  ending the addiction.

  The criminal justice system cannot be the exclusive vehicle for ending drug
  addiction.  The entire community must join forces to end this scourge.

  As you search for solutions to the drug problem and other problems, please
  bear in
  mind that new laws, tougher criminal penalties, and more resources for law
  enforcement will add to the existing bottleneck in the courts through which
  all cases
  must flow.  We will do our part to deliver justice as effectively as we can
  under the
  circumstances.  But without sufficient resources to match the high demand
  for court
  services, justice will continue to lag behind the public's rightful
  expectations.

  Our system of government calls on all three branches, in differing roles but
  working
  together, to contribute to the administration of justice.  Our role is to
  decide cases
  according to the law, promptly and equally to all people.  But we must rely
  on the other
  branches  for the resources required to carry out this enormously important
  responsibility.  I am confident that by working in unison, we can overcome
  the grave
  problems that threaten to impede the delivery of justice - today and in the
  future.

© 1999 Cornell College and League of Women Voters of Iowa

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