“Scary Mary” Presiding: Dateline NBC Takes an In-Depth Look at Drug Courts
By Susan Richardson, June 12 2014
On Sunday, NBC’s Dateline aired an in-depth look at Mercer County, Michigan’s drug courts. The piece, featuring Adult and Juvenile Drug Court Judge “Scary Mary” Chrzanowski, followed the stories of three individuals, whose addictions landed them in drug court, for an entire year.
The National Association of Drug Court Professionals (NADCP) further explains why this riveting piece is so important:
While the story is a profile of just one of over 2,800 Drug Courts in the United States, it underscores two important issues critical to the public’s understanding of all Drug Courts. First, the individuals profiled in the piece, no matter their original charge, were given the option of Drug Court because they were assessed and shown to meet the clinical criteria for drug-dependence. Once they were admitted, the Drug Court team worked tirelessly to keep them in the program and deal with relapse and other issues that arose along the way.
Dateline will post the full episode here later this week. For now you can watch and share select clips on NBC’s website, or watch the teaser below.
As many students graduated across the county in May and June, the Honorable Anthony Capizzi congratulated youth during a different kind of commencement. On May 15, 2014, Montgomery County Juvenile Court celebrated the journey to sobriety of 15 youth along with their families. Judge Capizzi indicated that for some youth and families, the journey was lengthy with many obstacles; for others, the goal of completing Drug Court was swift and certain. Regardless of the path traveled by youth to their graduation date, Judge Capizzi, the Drug Court case managers and counselors never gave up on them. More importantly, the youth and families never gave up on themselves. Two families gave testimonials that Montgomery County Juvenile Drug Court not only facilitated their children’s sobriety but also directly impacted or led to the parents’ sobriety at the same time.
Singer/community activist Vaughn Anthony Stephens was the guest speaker for graduation. Vaughn Anthony has traveled the world singing background for his brother, John Legend. He has also performed solo and collaborated with stars such as Rick Ross, Robin Thicke, Ghostface, Estelle and many others. Currently Vaughn Anthony is launching his own non-profit corporation, the “Be About it Movement,” in his hometown of Springfield, Ohio. Vaughn Anthony provided an inspirational and encouraging message for youth to remain disciplined and focused on their sobriety.
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Tune in this Tuesday, June 10, to the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP)’s live video stream of the Academic Achievement Summit. ONDCP and the Department of Education are teaming up to explore how substance abuse affects academic achievement, with the goal of catalyzing action, especially at the local level.
Editor's note: this article originally appeared on 
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This year two Reclaiming Futures fellows, Judge Anthony Capizzi, 
The issue of illegal dumping has had a negative impact on many Dayton, Ohio neighborhoods. Illegal dumping poses a health risk to residents, lowers property value, and is costly to taxpayers. As a result of areas appearing to be unkempt, neighborhoods plagued with this problem have been found to attract criminal activity.
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