Implementing the Key Components of Specialized Drug Treatment Courts: Practice and Policy Considerations

The perceived need for specialized drug courts emerged from the most recent "war on drugs." Courts were no longer able to handle such cases effectively because of an overwhelming volume of drug arrests and prosecutions. The increased emphasis on drug enforcement also revealed that many of the most serious criminally involved drug‐using offenders were undeterred by threats of incarceration, but were amenable to substance abuse treatment. Drug court professionals have identified several "key components" that must be in place for these courts to achieve their goals of reducing drug use and crime. Through the lens of these key drug court components, we examine the development and initiation of specialized drug treatment courts in Cook County (Chicago), Illinois. By exploring and documenting Cook County's experiences, we elucidate several of the basic policy and organizational issues surrounding the implementation and operations of specialized drug treatment courts in the United States.     

Potential FCC Actions Against “Fake News”: The News Distortion Policy and the Broadcast Hoax Rule

President Donald Trump has threatened to revoke broadcasters’ licenses for airing what he calls “fake news.” While many dismissed his threat as empty, the FCC does have a news distortion policy and a broadcast hoax rule, either of which might be used to target fake news stories. Both the policy and the rule require elements in addition to the falsity of a story for a violation to have occurred, which narrow their applicability and help limit any chilling effect they might have. These narrowing elements also make it likely the policy and rule would both survive First Amendment scrutiny, but also make it unlikely they could be used to target the types of stories Trump complains about the most.     

Political Rivalry and Conflict in Putin’s Russia

The year 2015 throughout Russia was much less about what it seemed than what it revealed. On the surface, after the September 2015 combined regional and local elections, Russia appeared to be tranquil, politically disengaged, and supportive of President Vladimir Putin. The underlying reality was quite different. The election exposed a country divided by rivalry and a conflict of interests within the Russian political establishment set off by Putin’s own policies over the preceding two years. Since the election, Putin and the Kremlin have been confronting the challenge of balancing and containing the competing interests of institutions, levels of government, and establishment stakeholders who are less easily reconciled or controlled.