Hawaiʻi took a chance on something called Drug Court back in 1995 to tackle the rising cases of crime around drug abuse.
Under the late Chief Justice Ronald Moon, the idea was born to find a better way to handle those convicted of drug crimes and to reduce recidivism.
Thirty years later, with the data to show its success, there have been spinoffs. A Veterans Treatment Court and a Mental Health Court sprang out of the desire to do better than just lock people up…