First graduate hails federal drug court.

Byline: Bill Bishop The Register-Guard

The light shone brightly for Joseph Lander, an ex-convict and drug addict who became the nation's first graduate from a federal drug court program Friday in Eugene.

At Friday's ceremony, Lander thanked the support team who helped him along the way and also recalled his former life as a heroin addict and bank robber.

After his last arrest in 1997, he said he asked a jail guard to please just kill him.

"I was at a point in my life. There was no hope," Lander said. "I could see no light anywhere. I wanted to die."

Then he met Shaun McCrea, a Eugene defense lawyer who Lander said "put a piece of light back inside of me."

In prison, clean of drugs, he finally could see what he had become and what would come next.

"I came to the realization I had accepted the lifestyle of drug addiction and going to jail," Lander said. "I got scared. This is it: You're going to die in a jail cell somewhere or with a needle in your arm."

Then Lander, 55, completed the drug court's intensive, yearlong regimen of abstinence and accountability. The court aims to change old patterns of thinking through the hands-on help of a team that includes a probation officer, a defense lawyer, a prosecutor, a treatment provider, a federal judge and peers in the program.

Although increasingly common in Oregon and in state court systems around the country, the new drug court programs in Eugene and Portland are the first in the federal criminal justice system. Todd Bourassa, 35, joined Lander in graduating Friday.

U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken, who sits on the drug court team in Eugene, calls Lander "The Professor" for the studied manner in which he insisted the program live up to its goals of showing respect and expecting accountability among the 10 program participants.

On Friday, she signed his diploma and gave Lander a hug. Later this month, she expects to sign his release from supervision. Lander will be a free citizen.

"I never in my life thought I'd be hugged by a federal court judge," Lander said. "Sentenced, maybe."

Lander served almost six years in prison and was on supervised release when his probation officer, Mark Walker, suggested he sign on for the new drug court program. At first, Lander thought it would be a quick way to shave a year off of his supervision and get Walker off his back.

But Lander said the drug court team turned the light on again by holding him accountable not just for what he was doing but for how he was thinking. He could see a different future, ways to change, habits to break, new ones to make.

He is enrolled at Lane Community College and earns straight A's. He dreams of becoming an advocate for expanding drug treatment as a cost-effective way to address crime and social problems. He quoted research showing each dollar spent on drug treatment saves $5.60 in other criminal and social costs.

Lander's personal change was exemplary, Walker said.

For many in drug court, the program's system of small rewards for success and fast response to failure is the formula for reaching people who have seen little success and have felt little accountability in their lives, said U.S. District Judge James Redden, who runs the Portland federal drug court.

"For a lot of them, it's the first time anybody has congratulated them on anything," Redden said. For those who miss a drug test or fail one, Redden said he imposes an immediate penalty ranging from community service to several days in jail. Rewards range from candy bars to movie passes. His court will have its first graduates in June.

"It's a hard road for those people, but they really want to do it," he said, noting that the program is tailored for offenders whose crimes are addiction-related, and not for hardened repeat offenders or violent criminals.

Unlike state court drug programs, whose participants get minor charges dismissed for completing drug court, the federal program deals with offenders fresh out of prison facing long terms of supervision in the community.

Bourassa, the second graduate from the program, said he had other motivations to change - three children ages 8, 7 and 3. His graduation coincided with his release from supervision. Bourassa walked out of court Friday with his wife and children, the first time in 11 years he is free of parole for drug-related thefts.

"You've got to want it," he said. "It feels good."

Lander said he feels honored to be the first federal drug court graduate.

"I don't think I would have made it through without all the support," he said.