In the mid-eighties, Dada County, Florida established the first drug court in the US. Once it proved it's worth, other municipalities followed. In 1998, Rockland County, NY established a Misdemeanor Drug Court. As a local judge I was opposed to the concept. Two years after it was created I asked if I could preside not really knowing if it actually worked. A few months later I knew it did work. Over the twelve years, as both a Misdemeanor and Felony Drug Court Judge, I made notes of interesting experiences and collected letters from graduates, those participants who sent letters from jail, and from grateful family members. The book covers my early life and career and my Drug Court experience with each chapter starting with a letter either from Drug Court participant or about one. Each chapter about Drug Court covers a different discipline of Drug Court and my personal experiences as a Drug Court Judge. It's intended to educate the reader about how drug court works for those interested in criminal justice, addiction, sobriety and recovery told by an expert in the field, and filled with real stories from those participants who experienced it. It is also part memoir which may explain how this "Baby Boomer" from the Bronx was able to positively affect so many lives.
