User:Danielmagrath/Specialized court

United States

Further information: Federal judiciary of the United States § Other tribunals

In the United States, special courts can handle both civil and criminal disputes. In 2008, the first Veterans' Court was created. Of the older such courts, usually Article I tribunals, is the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces founded in 1951 which functions as an appeal court for military and economic offences. Some common forms of specialty courts include "Drug Courts," "Family Courts," "Mental Health Court," and "Traffic Courts." Drug Courts are separated into categories such as "Adult Drug Court", "Juvenile Drug Court", "DWI Court," and "Veteran's Treatment Court."

Adult Drug Court in the United States

"Drug Court" generally involves evaluating risk level and accommodating with proportionate supervision, drug testing, therapy, inpatient drug rehabilitation, and outpatient drug rehabilitation. Some examples of general proportionate accommodation for offenders convicted under Drug Court would be mandated treatment under Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous, Addiction Treatment Centers, and specialized therapy by a substance abuse therapist. The criteria that must be met for Drug Court includes being over 18 at the time of the offense, United States citizen, guilty plea to a non-violent felony offense, no prior violent offenses, diagnosed chemical dependency, and willingness to comply with Drug Court. The purpose of drug court is to advance public safety and healthy communities by creating collaborative responses to crimes committed by individuals who suffer from chemical dependency. The argued reason for using drug court for drug offenders is that this method addresses some of the root causes of their criminal activity.