Therapeutic Court

Yesterday was my first trip to one of the villages, and I’d like to dedicate it to the two people we went there to honor. They are from Napaskiak and commute (via boat and snowmachine) to Bethel to work. They just graduated from therapeutic court, a rehabilitative alternative to prison time. In graduating, they’ve managed to conquer alcoholism and all the problems the addiction caused in their lives.

From the states, it’s hard to imagine the havoc that addiction creates here in the bush. The keynote speaker at the graduation, Mike Williams, put the scale of the problem in painfully clear terms. Mike, a former alcoholic, has lost all five of his brothers in separate alcohol related deaths. And his experience is not an anomaly.

The statistics are out of this world, but I don’t have them off hand. Anyway, the problem is serious. It’s difficult to visualize a solution. I think about it all the time, especially because I’m often working amidst the carnage of addiction gone bad – murder, rape, domestic violence, child sex abuse, suicide, death from exposure, assault, child neglect, etc.

The Alaskan courts realized that simply locking offenders for a certain period of time did nothing to address the root of the problem. That’s when several pioneering people introduced the therapeutic program in Anchorage and from there it’s spread across the state. Yesterday I met retired Judge Wanamaker, one of the people who originally got it going, and a very warm person. I’m lucky to be working for Judge Devaney, who really is an amazingly effective person for the task. The program is 18 months, and often succeeds in rehabilitation. People get themselves back on their feet with the encouragement of the court. I liken the court to a cross between AA and bearing witness.

The participants check in frequently with the court; it’s often humorous. Today at times I was thinking it could be a successful TV program like Judge Judy. But instead of being derisive, the Judge is positive and encouraging. I mean, in addition to the serious nature of the issues, a lot of comedy exists just do to the frontier setting and funny characters. One participant’s mother came in and he was making jokes about setting the net and running the trap line to take care of his wheelchair bound mother. You had to be there, but I promise you it was great.

It’s really great to see rehabilitation as a primary goal, and it’s even better to see it succeeding.

The graduation was very emotional, with family members speaking and voicing their support and praise. The Chief Justice of the Alaska Supreme Court was on hand, as was the Tribal Council of Napaskiak to congratulate the graduates.

Anyway, I could go on and on, but that’s enough for now. I don't feel like I'm doing the program the justice it deserves with this short description. At the very least, it's very inspirational.

It’s currently snowing, seriously, and we’ve got a nice snowboarding video from Netflix for a pre-winter pump up.

Soon I'll post some pictures from the graduation and trip over to Napaskiak. It’s a nice little village.