Greater Cleveland Drug Court Celebrates Six Graduates

(Cleveland) – The 68th Graduation Ceremony of the Greater Cleveland Drug Court, under the direction of Cleveland Municipal Court Judge Lauren C. Moore took place June 28 with just the six graduates in her courtroom.   Following Covid-19 protocols to keep traffic to a minimum, the Drug Court Team joined via Zoom in Courtroom 15A in the Justice Center.  

The keynote speaker was Shawn Hardy, the Executive Director of a nonprofit  organization named 12 Step Life, an organization assisting individuals withdrug and/or alcohol addictions and mental health disorders. 12 Step Life also accepts clients that are participating in medically assistant treatment.

“It’s funny how I kept questioning the things I was supposed to do to make my life better, but I didn’t question the things I was doing, which were clearly leading me down the wrong path,” he said.

Shawn has taken his story around the world with speaking engagements across the United States, Canada, England and Scotland.   This October he will be celebrating 26 years of sobriety.

"The main problem of the alcoholic centers in his mind and that’s right out of the Alcoholics Anonymous big book on Page 23,” said Shawn.

With the six grads, the total number of people who have successfully completed the program since it began in 1998 will be 1,848.

Participants in the Greater Cleveland Drug Court generally spend 12 to 20 months in the program. Longer cases may occur due to the fact that opiate addicts generally need more treatment time.  This year, four of the graduates entered the program with felonies, while the others were charged with lesser offenses.

Specialized dockets like the Greater Cleveland Drug Court are dedicated to handling offenses related to substance abuse, and use a combination of techniques for holding the offenders accountable while also addressing the underlying causes of their behavior.

There are more than 150 specialized dockets in Ohio. In 2014, this particular docket was certified by the Supreme Court of Ohio. The Drug Court Program began in the Cleveland Municipal Court in 1998 and has since expanded to other parts of Cuyahoga County.