Criminal justice clients are a considerable portion of clients who take part in drug treatment programs in New Hartford and across the nation. Judges in the U.S. often find it more effective to treat men and women who have found their way into the criminal justice system for drug related crimes, instead of penalizing them to no avail with jail time and other such rulings. It has proven more successful to address the issue of addiction directly, than to invoke such penalties. The majority of individuals who do not wind up in alcohol and drug rehab will often turn right back up in the criminal justice hamster wheel, while criminal justice clients in drug rehab often don't make the same mistakes and have a better chance at remaining sober and away from the court system for good.