![]() | Judging Addicts: Drug Courts and Coercion in the Justice System Subjects: Drug courts -- United States; Duress (Law) -- United States; Drug abuse -- Treatment -- Law and legislation -- United States; Drug addicts -- Legal status laws etc. -- United States; The number of people incarcerated in the U.S. now exceeds 2.3 million, due in part to the increasing criminalization of drug use: over 25% of people incarcerated in jails and prisons are there for drug offenses. Judging Addicts examines this increased criminalization of drugs and the medicalization of addiction in the U.S. by focusing on drug courts, where defendants are sent to drug treatment instead of prison. Rebecca Tiger explores how advocates of these courts make their case for what they call "enlightened coercion," detailing how they use medical theories of addiction to justify increased criminal justice oversight of defendants who, through this process, are defined as both "sick" and "bad." Tiger Rebecca : Rebecca Tiger is Assistant Professor of Sociology at Middlebury College and co-editor of Bioethical Issues, Sociological Perspectives. |
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