Does the Team Approach jeopardize judicial independence?
“No. A judge should never surrender or relinquish his or her judicial authority in a DWI court program. A judge is the person who placed the person in the program, accepted the person in the program, sentenced the person, and is responsible for all sanctions or actions taken against the offender while in the program. It would be highly improper for any judge to relinquish any decision making authority to any team member. To do so would be the judge abdicating his judicial responsibility under the code of ethics.” – Hon.
