New Free Webinar Friday on Recovery Courts and the Role of Defense Counsel

In case you missed it, I wanted to remind folks that the Public Defense Education team here, with support from the Office of Indigent Defense Services, is proud to offer a new webinar, Recovery Courts: An Overview for Defenders. Recovery courts (also known as treatment courts) have long played an important role in the criminal justice system, and the number and types of recovery courts have expanded over time. Recovery courts are increasingly an option for court-involved individuals with substance abuse and/or mental health issues, and are often targeted to specific demographics, such as veterans, juveniles, and repeat DWI offenders. Unlike the traditional criminal justice system, recovery courts operate in a less adversarial way, functioning instead more as a team effort between court system actors (e.g., prosecutors, judges, and defense counsel) and other professionals and community players (e.g., social workers, treatment providers, and mentors). This collaborative approach can provide real and lasting benefits both to a defendant’s case and to his or her personal life. The role of defense counsel in these matters can present challenges, though, and this webinar seeks to equip defenders with the tools they need to effectively and ethically represent clients in this setting. My friend and colleague Timothy Heinle spearheaded this effort. He recruited several assistant public defenders working in this space to share their expertise and help explain the purpose of drug courts, the authority under which they operate, and the practical and legal issues that can arise while representing a client in this context. [...]