Murphy, Sheila M.

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Introduction: Unified Family Courts: A Mandate from Heaven

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Journal of Health Care Law and PolicyVolume 3 | Issue 1 Article 2Introduction: Unified Family Courts: A Mandatefrom HeavenSheila M. MurphyFollow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.law.umaryland.edu/jhclpPart of the Family Law Commons, Health Law Commons, and the Substance Abuse andAddiction CommonsThis Front Matter is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@UM Carey Law. It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal ofHealth Care Law and Policy by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@UM Carey Law. For more information, please contactsmccarty@law.umaryland.edu.Recommended CitationSheila M. Murphy, Introduction: Unified Family Courts: A Mandate from Heaven, 3 J. Health Care L. & Pol'y (1999).Available at: http://digitalcommons.law.umaryland.edu/jhclp/vol3/iss1/2IntroductionUNIFIED FAMILY COURTS: A MANDATE FROM HEAVENTHE HONORABLE SHEILA M. MURPHY*The University of Maryland School of Health this spring joinedwith the University of Maryland School of Law and the University ofBaltimore School of Law in a historic conference. The subject matterwas not "the war on drugs," but rather, how together we can bringpeace to our people.It is none too soon. In my opinion, not since the Civil War haveso many Americans been held prisoner by other Americans. At therate we are going, soon half of the country's citizens may be guardingthe other half.The health of our nation is withering from within. Addiction toalcohol and other drugs and co-occurring mental health disorderslargely has gone unaddressed. Occasionally, judges who are recover-ing alcoholics or addicts, and those with compassion, have led othersto Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous. They haveknown that "we" is the first word of the first step of Alcoholics Anony-mous' and that addiction cannot be shamed out of people. Instead,these judges have led hopeless people to hope and redeemed theirlives. But this is the exception. Law schools have no courses in alco-* Retired from the Circuit Court for Cook County, where she served as PresidingJudge of the Sixth Municipal District, Markham, Illinois from 1992-1999. Judge Murphyserves on the American Bar Association's Standing Committee on Substance Abuse and asan adjunct faculty member of the National Judicial College and the U.S. Department ofJustice Programs for Drug Courts. She is of counsel to the law firm of Rothschild Barry &Myers in Chicago, Illinois. The author graciously acknowledges the assistance of JosephLane, a second year John Marshall Law student.This introduction is dedicated to Professor Barbara Babb of the University of Balti-more School of Law. Judges like myself who fight for therapeutic justice are sometimesignored or ridiculed. Without support and scholarship of legal scholars, such as BarbaraBabb, David Wexler, and Bruce Winnick, our courthouses would still be little more than astep on the way to the penitentiary. Because of the teachings of Professor Babb and others,judges have been able to set sail into waters already chartered by significant legalscholarship.Thank you, Professor Babb, for coming to the Markham Courthouse and bringing thelight that still guides our way.1. See The Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous (visited Oct. 18, 1999) <http://www.aa.org/em24doc6.html. Alcoholics Anonymous was started in Akron, Ohio in 1935.See Historical Data: The Birth of A.A. and its Growth in U.S./Canada <http://www.aa.org/em24dc14.html>.JOURNAL OF HEALTH CARE LAw & POLICYholism or addiction. Health professionals do not teach our lawyers orlaw students. Most continuing education seminars for lawyers andjudges ignore addiction and mental health disorders. Richard Yoast,Director of the AMA Office of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse, saidrecently at the ABA's Standing Committee on Substance Abuse, "...not to address alcohol and tobacco is like swatting flies when the ele-phant is standing on our toes. "2Clearly, the greatest predictor for a child's future is the conductof the parent. If parents abuse alcohol, and other drugs, the childrencan be expected to follow in their footsteps, often by the time they areadolescents. Living with an alcoholic/addict robs the family of mentaland sometimes physical health. Frank McCourt's Angela's Ashes' waswritten about Ireland, but it could be Chicago, Baltimore, or Los An-geles. It is a reality that children do not thrive if their parents aredepressed and/or addicted to alcohol and drugs. They can't. Thedrink or the drug takes first place. Alcohol escalates domestic vio-lence and sometimes leaves children orphans. Children and other vic-tims frequently sedate themselves with alcohol and other drugs towithstand the violence at home and on our streets.Health care professionals are now telling lawyers and judges thatif we continue to sentence alcoholics and addicts to prison, we willimperil our society. Locking up alcoholics and addicts with offenderswho suffer from anti-social personality disorders and other disorders issure to make them worse. What happens when they return to ourcommunities? And what happens to the children of the thousands ofparents who are incarcerated?Health educators teach us to treat the cause, not the symptoms.People can and do recover if placed in treatment. This treatmentshould include substance abuse treatment and mental health treat-ment. HIV and TB are diseases that need immediate attention as well.Women need specific help to recover because they do not comein alone. Very often they come to the system burdened with theirchildren's needs as well as their own. To ignore the gender-specificneeds of women is to turn our backs on children. If we open ourhearts to women in need, their children will grow into strong adultsfor our country.The only way to win the war on drugs is to bring peace to ourpeople. Lawyers and judges cannot do it alone. Health educators and2. Richard Yoast, Remarks at the Meeting of the American Bar Association StandingCommittee on Substance Abuse (Oct. 1999).3. FRANK McCouRT, ANGELA'S ASHES (1996).[VOL. 3:viiUNIFIED FAMILY COURTSprofessionals are needed to educate and develop protocols to follow.This spring, led by enlightened professors, the legal and judicial com-munity met with university health educators. We learned that treatingaddiction without treating the underlying mental health disorder islike a doctor treating a cardiac problem and ignoring a kidney disor-der. We learned that therapeutic jurisprudence must be administeredin a unified way by a court system. Families need to address problemslike truancy, domestic violence, marriage dissolution, and delin-quency in the court, before one judge. In addition, that judge needsthe resources to help the family. Courthouses can then becomeplaces of peace where victims can sit at a table and address their re-storative needs. Defendants can recover as they amend their ways andmake restitution to the victims. In all twelve-step recovery programs,"making amends" is part of the recovery process. For example, JudgeMichael Town in Honolulu, Hawaii brings in all family members sothey can witness and support defendants who amend their ways.So, joining hands with health professionals, we can turn awayfrom carnage and violence. We can stop the killings if we begin crav-ing for peace and justice instead of alcohol and cocaine.Was it a coincidence that this historic conference took place nextdoor to the tomb of Edgar Allan Poe at Westminster Church Ceme-tery in Baltimore? Did Poe, like so many Americans today, use alcoholto sedate or camouflage a deep-seated mental health disorder? In TheRaven, Poe tells us of his hopelessness, "... And my soul from out thatshadow that lies floating on the floor shall be lifted-nevermore."4Health educators can lead us, with the legal and medical scholars,those who practice before the bench, and those enrobed on thebench, we can all turn toward recovery for America, turn away fromblame, shame, and condemnation. The evidence of hope is here.Now we need the courage to change the judicial system. A drug treat-ment court here and there is a start, but it is not enough. We needlawyers and judges who understand that addiction and mental healthneeds should be addressed with professional help in every court fromprobate to paternity.Instead of judges placing people in the revolving doors of ourpenitentiaries, judges can be the lighthouses of our society. We cancast the light of compassion and bring resources to those who other-wise would be human casualties on our shores. So, with gratitude to4. EDGAR ALLAN POE, COMPLETE TALES AND POEMS OF EDGAR ALLAN POE 943 (VintageBooks 1975).1999]JOURNAL OF HEALTH CARE LAw & POLICY [VOL. 3:viiall who hosted the recent Baltimore conference, we now look to eachother for inspiration.Alone we fail. Together we can lift up our people so that hopeand health will be restored, individually and collectively. It is timethat this "civil war" ends. We have more important things to do. Weneed to cherish and educate our children because they are the futureof America. They deserve it. So do each of us, young and old, richand poor.Katherine Bates was a visiting professor at Colorado College whenshe went to the top of Pikes Peak. She was overcome at the beauty ofwhat she saw and wrote America the Beautiful, "America! America! Godshed his grace on thee."5 Like Professor Bates, that is how I felt at theconference's end. This is a beautiful country, filled with goodnessand grace.May God's grace be on us all as we go about our work. In savingothers, surely we save ourselves. Therapeutic justice, at this time inAmerica's history, may well be a mandate from heaven.5. KATHERINE BATES, America the Beautiful It. 5-6 (1913).

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