A ceremony for drug court graduates hits home for the governor, whose daughter is going through the program.
By Associated Press
Published May 8, 2003
PENSACOLA - An emotional Gov. Jeb Bush spoke Wednesday at a statewide drug court graduation ceremony, saying he hoped to watch his daughter complete the program soon.
Noelle Bush, 25, has been a drug court participant in Orlando since her arrest last year on a charge of trying to use a fraudulent prescription to obtain the anti-anxiety drug Xanax.
"I'm going to be sitting soon I hope, as a loving and proud father, with you," Bush said from an Escambia County courtroom where nine graduates and their families were joined by judges, legislators, local and state officials and two Florida Supreme Court justices. The ceremony was beamed by television to courtrooms across Florida.
"This is an emotional thing for me," Bush said, his voice cracking. "God, I hate doing that."
Bush quickly regained his composure and praised the program. He said it has grown from 34 drug courts when he took office in 1999 to 82 now, with a 63 percent funding increase, and is expected to grow to 93 by the end of the year.
The governor later told reporters he did not foresee budget shortfalls forcing any curtailment in the programs.
Bush told the graduates he thought the threat of punishment was an important part of the rehabilitation effort. His daughter, for example, has been jailed twice, once for three days after being caught with prescription pills and later for 10 days when she was accused of having a small rock of crack cocaine in her shoe.
"I don't know what the graduates think about this, but I do believe that had there not been a degree of punishment in their lives that they may not have had the focused approach," Bush said. "If there wasn't a consequence then it might have been harder to achieve this victory."
About 10,000 defendants are expected this year to graduate from Florida drug courts, which allow them to avoid criminal sanctions if they stick to their rehabilitation.
Supreme Court Chief Justice Harry Lee Anstead also addressed the graduates, noting Florida was the first state to adopt drug courts. He was accompanied by Justice Kenneth Bell, who was a circuit judge in Pensacola before Bush named him to the high court this year.
"In my view the most effective war on drugs is the one individual Americans wage with themselves," Anstead said. Circuit Judge Terry Terrell, who presides over Escambia's drug court, said fewer than 13 percent of his graduates become repeat offenders, a rate similar to other Florida counties. Drug offenders who go through a regular court have a rearrest rate of 60 percent or more, he said.
