A remarkable graduation journey

2019: Drug Court Judge: “Angela, sometimes we should think about where were you three years ago, and how far we’ve come.”

Angela Evans: “Three years ago, I was running E Block downstairs.”

Saturday, I went to the SKC graduation to see three of our Drug Court graduates get their degrees. Two received associate degrees. Also, Dana, our former drug court coordinator, earned two associate degrees to achieve her goal of starting a Tribal Treatment Court.

Angela earned a Bachelor of Science degree and is now a psychologist. How she got there is a story of an unusual friendship and two remarkable young women.

It is surprising Angela even got in Drug Court. When she was paroled from the Montana Women’s Prison after two felony drug convictions, most expected her to return to the same addictive lifestyle, but her parole officer, Katie Campbell, saw something in her and recommended she be accepted into Drug Court. The prosecutor on the Drug Court team vehemently objected. The others on the team were skeptical, at best.

Katie Campbell was a hard-nosed parole officer, but brilliant and insightful. Still, no one else thought she was right this time.

What was she thinking? “Even in her active addiction, she had a way of connecting with people through a combination of humor and experience. I knew she had the ability to change not only her own circumstances but to effect positive change in others,” Katie said recently. “Her potential was staring me in the face even though she (and other people for that matter) didn’t see it at the time.”

Katie fought hard to keep Angela in the community and get her into treatment court “… because I knew she would take advantage of the opportunity even if it was initially to prove the naysayers wrong.” In Drug Court, we called this “good stubborn”.

Angela came to addiction the traditional way, through a family of multi-generational childhood trauma, and the attendant addiction and mental illness. Years ago, the CDC published a study into the relationship of childhood trauma and adult addiction. It found that if a child suffered one form of child abuse or serious trauma, that child was twice as likely to become an adult addict. But if a child suffers six or more kinds of such trauma, she is something like 46 times more likely to become an adult addict. Angela fit the profile, as did most people in Drug Court.

Angela dropped out of school after ninth grade. She got her GED in Job Corps, then returned home and began to dance the dance she knew.

I never saw anyone succeed in recovery unless they built some confidence, self esteem and, in a word, hope. That comes from success in things like education, a job, healthy relationships, and clean tests. Angel initially had none of that.

“When I got home, I did not know how to apply any recovery skills. I eventually relapsed and was facing another possession charge, which led me to apply for drug court. I had this amazing parole officer who had hope for me when nobody else did. I started my recovery journey on borrowed hope. I was going to prove everyone wrong, but my spite turned into hope for myself, and grew into a sense of hope for my community and my family and people.”

Angela was required to see her PO once a month. She was reporting in more often than that, just to visit. She graduated Drug Court in 2020, and continued to contribute to the recovery community. She was a volunteer case manager for Drug Court, a leader in Narcotics Anonymous, and director of the Recovery Center in Ronan. She has been clean since 2018. In 2022, Angela became the first Drug Court graduate to have her criminal convictions expunged.

Angela said Saturday, “I am now a state licensed addition counselor. I have the privilege of working with other addicts where they are and not where society thinks they should be. My journey is the example I promote … Drug Court taught me to save myself. Today I am part of the Drug Court team and honored to support others on their journey.”

And now two remarkable women can be friends, colleagues and equals. Katie was at the graduation party.

Jim Manley was appointed Deputy Lake County Attorney in 1978. He retired as District Court Judge in 2022. In the years between he tried cases all over Montana, was past president of Montana Trial Lawyers Assoc., voted 2009 Montana Trial Lawyer of the year, and was inducted into both the American Board of Trial Advocacy (ABOTA) and The International Society of Barristers (ISOB).