Can Drug Courts Help to Reduce Prison and Jail Populations?

Drug courts have been widely praised as an important
tool for reducing prison and jail populations by diverting drug-involved offenders into treatment rather than
incarceration. Yet only a small share of offenders presenting with drug abuse or dependence are processed
in drug courts. This study uses inmate self-report surveys from 2002 and 2004 to examine characteristics of
the prison and jail populations in the United States and
assess why so many drug-involved offenders are incarcerated. Our analysis shows that four factors have prevented drug courts from substantially lowering the flow
into prisons and jails. In descending order of importance, these are: drug courts’ tight eligibility requirements, specific sentencing requirements, legal
consequences of program noncompliance, and constraints in drug court capacity and funding. Drug courts
will only be able to help lower prison and jail populations if substantial changes are made in eligibility and
sentencing rules.
Keywords: drug courts; eligibility criteria; prison and
jail populations; alternatives to incarceration
The U.S. “war on drugs” has markedly
increased incarceration rates since the
1980s, as a greater number of drug-using
offenders were sent to prison and jail for
increasingly long periods of time (Blumstein
and Beck 1999; Caulkins and Chandler 2006).
The repercussions of this buildup remain with
us today in the form of historically large incarcerated populations. What is more, a majority
of offenders incarcerated for both drug and
nondrug crimes either abused or were
addicted to illegal drugs (Karberg and James
2005; Mumola and Karberg 2006), and there
is reasonable evidence that substance use—
especially frequent and heavy use—is associated with greater criminality (Bennett,
Holloway, and Farrington 2008).
Against this backdrop, interest has grown in
programs that combine community-based drug
treatment with justice system oversight as an
alternative to incarceration. Drug courts, in
476258ANNXXX10.1177/0002716213476258The
Annals of the American AcademyCan drug courts
help to reduce prison and jail populations?
2013
DOI: 10.1177/0002716213476258
Can Drug
Courts Help to
Reduce Prison
and Jail
Populations?