JUDGE ARRINGTON TO PRESIDE OVER ATLANTA DRUG DEALERS

MARTIN LUTHER KING, III TO ATTEND

In an unprecedented effort designed to provide drug dealers with an opportunity to turn their lives around, Judge Marvin Arrington and the Fulton County Superior Court will unveil a pilot program developed by the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office and its partnering agencies the GBI, the Atlanta Police Department, Fulton County Probation, and the Concerned Black Clergy of Metropolitan Atlanta.

For the first time in the history of the Fulton County adult court system, parents of the drug offenders will be called into court with the defendants and asked to assist the court system in intervening in their lives. Additionally, each defendant will be assigned a “citizen mentor” to assist them in maintaining communications with the court system.

Moreover, defendants will be offered critical life services from resources including the Georgia Department of Labor, United Way, Goodwill Industries, Job Corp, the U.S. Army, Fulton County Department of Health and Wellness and the Fulton County Housing Authority in order to assist in turning their lives around.

District Attorney Paul L. Howard. Jr. has promised that if these defendants participate in the program for one year and stay out of trouble that they will not be charged. The program is called “Project Turn Around” and will begin in room 1-C at 10:00 a.m. on Thursday, May 22, 2008.

Thursday, May 22, 2008 at 10:00 a.m.

Fulton County Courthouse, Room 1-C

130 Central Avenue

Atlanta, Georgia 30303

Media Contact: Shelia Edwards, 404-730-4867/404-392-8867, shelia.edwards@fultoncountyga.gov