On May 11 RC Sproul Jr appeared before Judge Wendy Davis in a Pretrial Conference hearing in Allen County Superior Court, Indiana. In that hearing Judge Davis referred RC Sproul Jr's drunk driving case to the Indiana Drug Court Treatment at the request of his attorney, Patrick Justin Arata.

What does it mean for RC Sproul Jr that his own attorney, one of the top drunk driving attorneys in the nation, advised him to petition to have his case transferred to Drug Court? It likely means his attorney knows they didn't stand much of a chance of convincing a jury of his innocence. In all likelihood the arresting officer has dash-cam video and audio evidence of the pursuit and arrest. That evidence, shown to a jury, would be damning, not to mention the additional evidence of the blood-alcohol test that showed RC Sproul Jr had a blood-alcohol content of .175 (more than twice the legal limit). The fact that he had two of his minor children with him in the car would have played especially badly in front of a jury.

RC Sproul Jr's next court appearance is scheduled for May 30 before Judge Frances Gull to determine his eligibility. Not every case referred to Drug Court Treatment is automatically accepted because not every substance abuser makes a good candidate for the Drug Court Treatment Program. Certain criteria first have to be met, and the judge has considerable latitude in who he will and will not accept. At RC Sproul Jr's May 30 Drug Court hearing it will be determined if he can meet the criteria.

Drug Courts have become very popular among criminal court judges and prosecutors all across the country. Prosecuting drug offenders (alcohol is considered a drug, legally and medically) is very time consuming and expensive, not to mention the considerable expense of incarceration. The outcomes are seldom ever positive. Incarcerating drug offenders costs tax payers many billions of dollars annually and does nothing to help the offenders or their families. Often it just makes the problem of substance abuse even worse.

Drug courts provide the offender a chance to rehabilitate themselves with the aid and supervision of a court system that serves as their ally rather than adversary. Criminal recidivism rates tend to be dramatically lower for participants of drug court programs compared to those who are run through the criminal court process.

Unfortunately there are inherent weaknesses with Drug Court programs, particularly where it concerns alcohol abusers. For example, Drug Courts rely heavily on periodic drug testing to weed out the non-compliant. While "peeing in the cup" often catches illicit drug abusers it generally is an ineffective means of catching the alcohol abuser. Alcohol is eliminated from the body within hours, whereas illicit drugs take days, if not weeks, to be eliminated to below detectable levels. Alcoholics also tend to be the last to acknowledge to themselves that they have a serious problem (denial is one of the hallmarks of alcoholism).

Drug Court programs can be highly effective for the sincere, but they are also far from perfect. For those who want to game the system, just so they can avoid jail, they're likely to be able to get away with continuing to consume their drug of choice on the sly. This is especially true of the alcoholic, which is the easiest of all drugs to get away with abusing.

If RC Sproul Jr is accepted into the Drug Court Treatment Program, and he's allowed to retain a driver's license (albeit a provisional one which will restrict when and where he can drive), he'll be required to install an ignition interlock ("breathalizer") on his car. But such devices can be circumvented: As the old adage goes, "Locks keep honest people honest." He may also be required to check himself in to an alcohol rehab ("detox") center. But regardless of the expense of an alcohol rehab program, most of them have a high recidivism rate. The court may also order that RC Sproul Jr get a "sponsor" and participate in Alcoholics Anonymous. But such programs are only as beneficial as the willingness of their participants to sincerely seek help. Too many AA participants aren't there by choice, and the odds aren't in their favor of a successful outcome.

As such, the prospects for RC Sproul Jr aren't good. He's been gaming the system for much of his life. He is cunning, duplicitous, and manipulative. If his primary goal of agreeing to Drug Court Treatment is getting off the booze for good then his prospects could be good. If, however, his only goal is avoiding prison, the long-term prospects for he and his family are very poor.

Knowing RC Sproul Jr as we do we believe that, should he convince Judge Gull of his eligibility for the Drug Court Treatment Program, he will likely successfully complete the program and avoid prison. He may even avoid a permanent criminal record. However, we are confident he'll also continue consuming alcohol, something that no alcoholic should ever do. Ultimately RC Sproul Jr will suffer a relapse, be arrested yet once again for drunk driving, and then be put away for a very long time.

The only real hope for RC Sproul Jr is to become the very thing that he has mocked and ridiculed so many for for so many years -- a teetotaler.