Judge’s innovation engineers state’s progressive approach to drug abuse

Imagine such a day.

The Nevada Supreme Court met in special session recently to honor and celebrate the career of retired District Court Judge Jack Lehman.

The courtroom gallery was lined with judges from throughout the state. Chief Justice Mark Gibbons extolled Lehman's career, and District Judge Jackie Glass added her seasoned perspective on the man who founded Nevada's Adult Criminal Drug Court Program. The tributes were fitting. The man of the hour, who recently celebrated his 80th birthday, couldn't keep the kid's grin off his face.

After watching the program, I've tried to imagine the size of the courtroom needed to seat the thousands of locals whose lives were saved by Lehman's innovation and dedication. And there are the thousands more people who would go to the penitentiary or even to the grave knowing that, if they had failed to seek treatment, their failure wasn't because their white-haired, no-nonsense drug court judge failed to show them compassion and a way up from the darkness of their drug abuse.

Fill the Planet Hollywood theater to capacity and run a line of humanity out the door, and you'll come close to the more than 9,000 people who have passed through drug court. Of those, more than 3,900 graduated from the statewide program, which gives drug offenders a chance to rehabilitate and avoid a prison sentence.

Drug court has saved taxpayers millions that would have been spent to house drug addicts in prison. It's also saved lives and families and made our tough, boomtown society a better place.

Imagine so much good coming because Lehman, known as an iron-fisted sentencing judge in drug cases, took time to study the societal phenomenon of narcotics abuse. In 1992, Lehman's efforts, the equivalent of a revolutionary move by Nevada's draconian narcotics sentencing traditions, resulted in the state's first drug court. Washoe County soon followed suit, and today Nevada can boast of several national firsts: a juvenile drug court, family drug court, early release re-entry drug courts, child support drug court, multi-county rural drug courts.

Nevada hasn't gone soft on drug crimes -- far from it. For all its many well-publicized flaws, our state justice system approaches the issue of drug abuse maturely and progressively.

Imagine such a day.

Brian Johnson wasn't one of the judges who filled the courtroom for the Feb. 4 tribute to Lehman. He was one of the drug court graduates. Johnson recalled the 56 times he appeared before the judge over 21/2 years. Even after he failed and wound up back in prison, Johnson was given another opportunity to succeed thanks to Lehman's early release and re-entry court. Clean today, Johnson faced Lehman and said, "Thank you for believing in me."

To understand Lehman's success, it helps to appreciate the man's beginnings. He was born in Chemnitz, Germany, to Jewish parents during the rise of the Nazis. His father, Solomon Walrauch, managed to get young Jack and his older sister out of the country in 1935 just ahead of the century's greatest reign of terror. While living with family members in California, his name was changed to Lehman.

He served in the Army's psychological warfare program during the Korean War and later went into radio and television broadcasting. In Las Vegas in the late 1950s, Lehman was known best as Commander Lee, the host of a popular children's television program.

He later earned his law degree and served in various capacities under Govs. Grant Sawyer, Mike O'Callaghan and Richard Bryan. Lehman was appointed by Bryan to the District Court bench in 1988.

All that success would have been enough for most anyone. But when Judge Lehman saw an opportunity to genuinely help his fellow man, he seized it by creating the drug court. It's in no small part because of the success of the drug court that the Rose Commission later recommended reducing possession of small amounts of marijuana from a felony to a misdemeanor.

Slowly, even Lehman's biggest critics were silenced by the results of the court. There's something about saving lives and taxpayer dollars that appeals to even the most cynical citizens.

Washoe County District Judge Peter Breen observed, "The state is a much better place because of Jack. All those people came back from the abyss of addiction because of Jack."

Imagine such a day -- and in Nevada, no less.

John L. Smith's column appears Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. E-mail him at Smith@reviewjournal.com or call (702) 383-0295.