Generally speaking, those who get arrested and convicted will face ramifications that could involve things like fines or jail time. A criminal conviction leads to some type of sentencing, which can be made by the judge based on the guidelines he or she has been provided with.
However, options to seek alternatives have been used over the years. One example would be a drug court:
What are drug courts?
These drug courts were set up to help people who had nonviolent drug possession offenses on their record simply because they were addicted to the substances in question. If they went through the program and were able to break that addiction, then they could get off without having to serve a sentence in jail or face other criminal ramifications.
What is the end goal?
One of the goals of using these drug courts is simply that addiction often leads to drug offenses, so the root of the problem is the addiction itself. Without curing that, fines and jail time aren’t going to have any impact. Only by curing the addiction can you actually prevent crime, so it logically makes far more sense.
Additionally, it has some advantages for the state. It reduces the prison population. It reduces the toll on the courts, which are often overwhelmed with cases. It can reduce the cost of carrying out all these trials and housing prisoners. Drug courts are, in this way, beneficial to all parties involved.
What are your options?
If you’ve been arrested, you can see how important it is to know about all the options you have. Make sure you know what steps to take and how you may be able to avoid a criminal record.