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Model residential drug recovery court showing success, attorney says

Posted at 8:17 pm August 26, 2015
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

Brad MacLean and Bob Cantrell

Brad McLean, left, program director of the Morgan County Residential Recovery Court, welcomes the commitment of Rev. Bob Cantrell and Presbyterians to help residents “reconnect with the community.” (Submitted photo)

 

By Carolyn Krause

The United States has a broken criminal justice system and a huge drug addiction epidemic, and the country leads the world in the number of people who are in prisons and jails. More than half of released prisoners re-offend and return to prison within three years.

Brad MacLean, an award-winning Nashville attorney and opponent of the death penalty who lives in Clinton, decided more than two years ago to help combat these major issues. He created and is supervising the nation’s first statewide residential drug recovery court, a pilot program and potential model for other states. On August 1, 2013, the Morgan County Residential Recovery Court opened at the Morgan County Correctional Complex, a state prison for men.

MacLean, who had volunteered in Judge Seth Norman’s residential drug court for Davidson County inmates, is program director at the Morgan County residential recovery court for nonviolent, drug-addicted felons across the state. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Front Page News, Morgan County, Police and Fire, Top Stories Tagged With: behavior modification, Bob Cantrell, Brad MacLean, counseling, criminal justice, drug abuse, drug addiction, drug court, drug recovery, drug recovery court, drug testing, drug therapy, drug-abdicted felons, drug-addicted offenders, First Presbyterian, First Presbyterian Church, First United Methodist Church, heroin, jail, methamphetamine, Morgan County Correctional Complex, Morgan County Residential Recovery Court, oxycontin, prescription opiates, prescription pills, prison, residential drug recovery court, Seth Norman, Tennessee Department of Corrections

KPD training specialist to discuss bullying on Monday

Posted at 11:50 pm February 22, 2015
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

Aubrey Maples

Aubrey Maples

Aubrey Maples, training specialist for the Safety Education Unit of the Knoxville Police Department, will speak at the Monday, February 23, luncheon meeting of the Oak Ridge Branch of AAUW (American Association of University Women) in Room 102 of the Activities Building at First Presbyterian Church, 1051 Oak Ridge Turnpike.

Maples, who is a civilian educator with the KPD Safety Education Unit, will talk about the Department’s “Take a Stand Against Bullying” Program. Also present will be Officer Lori Banks of the Safety Education Unit.

Maples received her bachelor’s degree in sociology from Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, and is currently pursuing her master’s in applied behavioral science, with an emphasis on criminal justice and social problems, a press release said. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Community, Knoxville, Meetings and Events, Police and Fire Tagged With: AAUW, American Association of University Women, Aubrey Maples, behavioral science, bullying, criminal justice, First Presbyterian Church, Knoxville Police Department, KPD, Lori Banks, Marge Congdon, Mary Uziel, Oak Ridge Branch, Safety Education Unit, sociology, Take a Stand Against Bullying

Updated: Lunch with League—Law and order in Anderson County

Posted at 10:50 pm February 16, 2015
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

Dave Clark

Dave Clark

Tom Marshall

Tom Marshall

Note: This Lunch with the League has been canceled due to weather.

Anderson County District Attorney Dave Clark and Public Defender Tom Marshall will be the guest speakers at Lunch with the League on Tuesday, February 17. The program will be held at noon in the Social Hall of the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church at 809 Oak Ridge Turnpike.

There won’t be defendants, witnesses, or a jury but the prosecutor—Dave Clark—and the defender—Tom Marshall—will discuss the current status of the Anderson County criminal justice system.

The Seventh Judicial District encompasses all of Anderson County. The district attorney is responsible for the prosecution of all criminal cases on behalf of the citizens of the state. The public defender’s office represents individuals accused of crimes who cannot afford a lawyer. Both the district attorney and public defender are elected for eight-year terms. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Anderson County, Community, Front Page News, Government Tagged With: Anderson County, criminal justice, Dave Clark, district attorney, district attorney general, League of Women Voters, League of Women Voters of Oak Ridge, Lunch with the League, public defender, Seventh Judicial District, Tom Marshall

Letter from Oak Ridge clergy: Public statement on Ferguson

Posted at 8:43 pm November 25, 2014
By Oak Ridge Today Letters 1 Comment

Yesterday’s decision not to indict Officer Darren Wilson—who shot and killed 18-year old Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, in August—serves as the latest flashpoint for heated racial tensions involving our criminal justice system. Whether one feels Officer Wilson’s action constituted “a crime” or not, the reality is that young black males are at a far greater risk of being shot dead by police than their white counterparts. Consequently, a tremendous amount of our nation’s racial history and tension gets exposed in reactions to such shootings because, regardless of the reason, the rate that blacks are killed by police is startling when set against the rest of the American population.  During these times of heightened racial frustration, it is critically important for the faith community to lift up a unified voice.

The Michael Brown case presents a unique challenge for racial harmony because the “no indictment” announcement was carried out in a way that highly frustrated many in the black community and went to great lengths to communicate that no crime was committed. As a result, many African Americans believe this case to be an attempt to “turn back the clock on race relations,” while many others see it as a successful demonstration of the effectiveness of the American justice system. So the question becomes, “How does the community of faith move forward in unity?”

First, we must draw inspiration from this situation. We must inspire our congregations to believe that God is still sovereign in spite of human brokenness. We must also inspire our people to believe that God, in His sovereignty, will ensure justice always prevails. Psalm 9:7-8 says, “But the LORD abides forever; He has established His throne for judgment, And He will judge the world in righteousness; He will execute judgment for the peoples with equity.” [Read more…]

Filed Under: Letters, Opinion Tagged With: bias, criminal justice, criminal justice system, Darren Wilson, discrimination, Ferguson, God, judicial system, justice, Missouri, Oak Ridge clergy, race relations, racial disparities

Guest column: County looks ‘dysfunctional’ on jail dispute, needs solutions

Posted at 10:11 am November 15, 2013
By Myron Iwanski 5 Comments

Myron Iwanski

Myron Iwanski

Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank’s op-ed column submitted to the media last week questioned County Commission’s decision to expand the jail. It has some incorrect statements about the history of this decision that need to be corrected.

In 10 years, the peak daily population of the jail nearly tripled. In 2000, there were 120 inmates, and in 2010 there were 340. The jail had a capacity of 226 when the decision to expand the jail was made in 2011. The peak daily population this year has increased to 396.

Mayor Frank’s claim that the jail is not overcrowded in very misleading.

This overcrowding is causing major problems in being able to properly classify inmates based on risks and other factors. This was the major reason the state was about to decertify the jail in 2011. It also does not take into account that we have approximately 3,000 outstanding arrest warrants, some of which prosecutors and deputies will tell you are for criminals that need to be in the jail. These criminals are not being actively pursued because of a lack of jail space. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Guest Columns Tagged With: Anderson County Commission, criminal justice, inmates, jail, jail expansion, jailers, mayor, Myron Iwanski, overcrowding, salary agreement, sheriff, tax increase, Terry Frank

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Classifieds

Availability of the draft environmental assessment for off-site depleted uranium manufacturing (DOE/EA-2252)

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) announces the … [Read More...]

Public Notice: NNSA announces no significant impact of Y-12 Development Organization operations at Horizon Center

AVAILABILITY OF THE FINAL ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT FOR THE OFFSITE HOUSING OF THE Y-12 DEVELOPMENT … [Read More...]

ADFAC seeks contractors for five homes

Aid to Distressed Families of Appalachian Counties (ADFAC) is a non-profit community based agency, … [Read More...]

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