Judge Michael Alonge, a Massapequa Park resident for over 20 years, was nominated recently by the Nassau G.O.P. to run against Democratic candidate Randy Sue Marber for 4th District Court Judge. The 4th District covers the entire Town of Oyster Bay and the City of Glen Cove.

Alonge is completing his sixth year as District Court Judge. If re-elected, he will continue to head the newly formed Community Court, a drug and alcohol rehabilitation court, and the first of its kind in Nassau County.

Although drug courts exist in Suffolk County and New York City, this is the first time in Nassau County that rehabilitation programs are being offered under the court auspices to offenders arrested on drug related charges. Charges range from drug possession, to prostitution or shoplifiting, two crimes commonly committed by people using drugs. The Community Court does not handle offenders convicted of crimes of violence, such as assault, or drug dealers.

Drug courts are unique because they rely on the active participation of the judge and his full-time staff of social workers, together with various other community services, to monitor the rehabilitation of offenders. "We emphasize rehabilitation rather than incarceration, although incarceration is always an option," Alonge said. "We don't coddle them, by any means. Sometimes it's tougher for them to get through a rehabilitation program successfully than it is to serve 60 or 90 days in jail on a shoplifting charge."

Alonge has been in charge of the Community Court for the past 18 months. During that time, he has attended multiple seminars offered by the Federal Government's Department of Justice to inform judges and court personnel of procedures and methods of conducting drug courts. Alonge is optimistic that the Community Court is helping repeat offenders break a cycle that is harmful to themselves and society at large.

"The typical defendant we see in Community Court is someone who has been arrested not once, but a few times. A pattern emerges: the defendant uses drugs, steals, gets arrested, serves time, gets out, uses drugs, steals, gets arrested, etc. We try to interrupt that pattern," Alonge said.

Two out of three offenders are successfully rehabilitated, according to Alonge, although he was quick to emphasize that the Community Court is not for everyone. "We try to tailor the program to meet an individual's needs. It's not one size fits all," he said. "But I think that's part of the reason we are seeing such a success rate."

Even if the ratio of successes to failures was lower than it is, the Community Court is a worthy endeavor from a financial standpoint. According to Alonge, it costs New York State $30,000 a year to incarcerate an offender, and only $6,000 a year to rehabilitate him or her, and, typically, with rehabilitation, the results are a lot better.

A former news reporter for The Daily News, and a Navy veteran, Alonge said he is looking forward to the campaign, and to continuing his work with the Community Court. "It has grown tremendously and gone off in directions I am very proud of," he said.

Alonge is married with two adult children. He is the past president of the Massapequa Park Chamber of Commerce, the past president of the Massapequa Park Republican Club, and was involved with the Bar Harbor Civic Association and the Rotary Club.