PIONEER IN DRUG TREATMENT ENDS GROUND-BREAKING JUDICIAL CAREER

Alameda County Judge Known For Helping Addicts

HAYWARD -- Alameda County Superior Court Judge Peggy Fulton Hora
presided over her final trial Friday, then hung up her black robe
for good and walked away from the Hayward Hall of Justice, leaving
behind a judicial legacy of compassion as a founder of the nations
first drug court.

Hora, whose retirement becomes official Feb. 28, said she figured
theres no better time than now to move on so she can shift her focus
to teaching, traveling, writing and her seven grandchildren.

The founder of the drug treatment court movement, Hora, 59, will be
replaced by Judge Jo-Lynne Lee until Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger
appoints her successor.

When you have 20 years of service, thats when a person knows, Hora,
a Castro Valley resident, said of her decision to retire. Its more
of a why not?'"

Hora, whose 21-year anniversary as a judge will fall on Saturday, is
considered a judicial pioneer as the founder of drug treatment court
at the Hayward Hall of Justice.

Since the establishment of the drug treatment court in 1998, Hora
has been its guiding and stabilizing force.

Throughout the years, instead of handing down harsh sentences for
substance abusers, Hora doled out compassion and oversaw the
treatment of the many addicts who stepped into her courtroom.

Its kind of an institution that shes leaving us, said Alameda County
District Attorney Tom Orloff. The major component of any drug court
is the judge and the success of the drug court is largely
attributable to the judges knowledge of the addiction issue and the
personality of the judge.

In both categories, she was just ideally suited. She really cares
about the people and she understands addiction and what people have
to wrestle with. She became a national expert in that. I dont think
anybody can quite do it like she does.

Hora, who also helped establish the drug treatment court in Oakland,
said it reintroduces the concept of rehabilitation to a court system
that, over the years, focused more on handing down jail sentences.

What Ive done through the drug treatment court is show that
treatment is effective and people can recover, Hora said. The court
can be useful in helping people change their lives by getting them
drug treatment. Certainly in drug treatment court, I view them
as people, as opposed to offenders.

Hora is highly respected by her peers, all of whom said the court
system is a better place because of her contributions and the impact
the drug treatment court has made over the years.

She obviously was a trailblazer, said Superior Court Judge Roy
Hashimoto. Drugs are such a huge problem in our society.

Said James McWilliams, an attorney with the Alameda County Public
Defenders Office: In very few places of the court system do we have
the opportunity to changes peoples lives. Its hard. (Hora) brought
the humanity to change peoples lives.

Hora had an historic impact on another level.

In 1984, she became the first woman elected a judge on what was then
known as the San Leandro-Hayward Municipal Court -- an
accomplishment she was clearly proud of as she reflected on her 21
years on the bench.

Hora, who worked as the managing attorney for the Hayward branch of
the Alameda County Legal Aid Society before being elected, said she
decided to run for the judgeship because, I thought I could be the
kind of judge that I wanted to appear in front of.

Over the years, she has lectured nationally and internationally and
has written extensively about such issues as substance abuse,
domestic violence, drug treatment court, cultural competence and
therapeutic jurisprudence -- work that has been cited by
dozens upon dozens of legal journals.

She recently joined a National Drug Court Institute committee to
help develop a drug court handbook that can be used as a reference
tool for judges throughout the country, and taught for 17 years at
the B.E. Witkin Judicial College of California, where she served
as dean from 1997-99. Hora also has been a member of the National
Judicial College for 12 years.

As such, Hora received the 2004 Bernard S. Jefferson Judicial Award,
which recognizes the judge who has made the most exceptional
contribution to the field of judicial education the previous year.

Shes educated at least 75 percent of the judges in the state,
Hashimoto said. Shes a unique individual. I think it will be very
difficult to replace her.