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HYDE-SMITH PROMOTES BENEFITS OF DRUG COURTS TO PUBLIC AS 59 GRADUATE FROM HATTIESBURG PROGRAM
Senator Delivers Keynote at 15th Judicial District Drug Court Ceremony
HATTIESBURG, MISS. – U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) today promoted the public benefit of the drug court system as part of her keynote address to 2019 graduates of the 15th Judicial District Drug Court.
Hyde-Smith, who as a state senator was key to the 2003 creation of Mississippi’s drug court system, cited growing national support for drug courts to help reduce financial and social burdens on the public, while offering nonviolent offenders opportunities for rehabilitation through long-term treatment and counseling.
“There is a growing consensus that drug courts are more effective than incarceration, and we should continue to promote the use of such programs,” Hyde-Smith said. “It is clear that drug courts restore lives, reunite families, save money, and cut crime. I am pleased this program is also benefitting veterans whose drug or alcohol use could lead them to being locked up.”
Hyde-Smith also challenged the 59 graduates of the 15th Judicial District program “to continue on the straight and narrow path.”
“I am extremely proud of the hard work each one of you have done. By finishing this program, you were able to overcome challenges that are not easy, challenges that not everyone understands, and I commend you for that,” the Senator said. “I encourage you to share your story and the impact the drug court program is having on your life.”
As a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Hyde-Smith supported increased federal drug court funding in FY2019 and has requested additional funding for FY2020 to strengthen the program as a greater emphasis is placed on it combat the national opioid epidemic.
In 2017, the President’s Commission on Combatting Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis recommended each of the nation’s 93 federal district courts adopt the drug court model.
Hyde-Smith on Friday also commended Circuit Judge Prentiss G. Harrell’s leadership of the Hattiesburg-based program and praised U.S. District Court Judge Keith Starrett as an early proponent of the drug court system in Mississippi.
Additional information about the Mississippi’s drug court program is available here.
