Melissa Hostetler

Drug courts are an approach to punishment and rehabilitation that combines judicial discretion with sanctions, treatments, and drug testing. Melissa Hostetler reports in the following viewpoint that these courts are not as successful as their advocates claim. She claims that instead of reducing drug possession offenses, drug courts have resulted in an increase in arrests. In addition, Hostetler explains, drug courts discourage states from funding voluntary treatment and give too much power to judges, who often are not qualified to determine the proper course of treatment for drug offenders. Hostetler is a journalist and cofounder of Frictionmagazine.com.

As you read, consider the following questions:

1. By how much did drug filings in Denver increase in the first two years of its drug court program, according to the author?
2. According to Hostetler, why have drug...