When Madison County Judge Brandy Oliver Brown was asked to participate in an A&E; Classroom special about methamphetamine, she said never anticipated it would be as professional or as far-reaching as the show has turned out to be.
Yet the miniseries, titled “Life or Meth,” has been recognized nationally with a nomination for a daytime entertainment Emmy award. The show is up against four others nominated in the Outstanding Special Class Special category, including a 9/11 Memorial from Ground Zero Fifth Anniversary show and the 80th annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
The awards ceremony is scheduled to be broadcast live June 15 on CBS.
“I never anticipated it would be this big of a deal,” Brown said. “When we got the letter, I was like, 'Wow.'”
Brown’s juvenile drug court is featured prominently in one of the later portions of the miniseries along with one of the court’s participants, a 17-year-old Berea citizen who only is named as “Justin.”
“Kentucky is somewhat of a leader in the drug court program,” Brown said. “They (A&E;) contacted the Administrative Office of the Courts and asked if there were any programs they could use for this special. The drug court people in Frankfort suggested our juvenile drug court program.”
The miniseries presents stories from recovering meth addicts who offer a glimpse into their lives while they were meth users. Sitting on the Madison County Courthouse front lawn, Justin explained that he was introduced to the drug by one of his friends and instantly was hooked.
“After I tried it, you know, I couldn’t get enough of it,” Justin said on the show. “I loved everything about it — the smell, the taste — everything.”
But Justin didn’t love the side effects. Before long, Justin said he began losing weight, became extremely pale and bumps began to form on his face. He didn’t care about anything, he said, and his attitude as a whole began to change. Before long he developed “meth mouth,” he said.
“It’s where you get these big holes in your teeth where all the acids and stuff are in the drug,” Justin said. “Like it eats your teeth away. It was just nasty looking. I didn’t like it at all. And they would hurt a lot, my gums would hurt a lot. So I started going to the doctor. One day I was brushing my teeth and this big chunk fell out of my tooth. It was where it was rotted. Finally they caught it and I got my teeth fixed.”
Several other former users talked about their addictions and how it changed them. Counselors, doctors, dentists, law enforcement officials and psychiatrists spoke about their interactions with meth users. Justin spoke about hitting his lowest point and then being arrested.
“I got put in drug court,” he said. “Then I slipped up dirty a couple times after that, I used a couple times. That will make you think a lot. It makes you think about what you love and what you want to do in life, and I wasn’t going nowhere smoking crank. So I had to quit. That was just something I couldn’t do no more.”
Justin chose drug court over being sent to boot camp, he said, when he learned that drug court was designed to help people like him get off drugs. The show filmed one of Justin’s actual court appearances and Brown speaks periodically between clips about the court hearing.
“You are emphasizing treatment as much as you are emphasizing punishment,” Brandy said on the show. “In my mind, it just makes more sense.”
The show’s producers were in Richmond for about two days and did a lot of shots around town and interviews in addition to filming inside the courtroom, Brown said.
“They basically show a highlight of the program and how it works as an alternative,” Brown said. “It shows how courts and the community are using it to combat drug addiction.”
Working with the A&E; crew was a different experience, Brown said.
“I have been interviewed and been on camera for different things, but they were always local,” Brown said. “They (the A&E; crew) were all from New York and were professional, career television, presumably successful people working for a prominent network,” she said. “It was a little intimidating, but also very interesting because after we got finished with filming, they all said, ‘It was so nice working with you, we really think what you are doing is cool.’ And they wanted to hear more about it personally. The filming was of course far more advanced and professional than what you would normally encounter. They had big lights and microphones I was not used to.”
Brown said she wanted to represent the program realistically and the community well. She agreed to do the program not only to get exposure for Kentucky and the hard work the state has put into drug court, but also because a lot of hard work was put into getting the program in Madison County and funding for it could be in danger.
“I think it is important that these programs continue,” Brown said. “If the community knows about the program and believes in it, in a lot of ways that translates into people being willing to donate time, money and some of their resources.”
After seeing the final product, Brown said she was very happy with it and thought it spoke highly of the Madison County jurisdiction as well as the local program.
“The producers all seemed to be very impressed with what we are doing,” Brown said. “That makes you feel good about your work and what you’re doing. And the kids, of course, were really excited.”
Kelly Foreman can be reached at kforeman@richmondregister.com or 624-6694.
Local News
‘Life or Meth’
A&E program featuring local youth, court gets Emmy nomination
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Measuring education
Brent Ray, a local contractor, helps Kit Carson Elementary third-graders Nathan Buck and Anijah Rembert measure an outside wall Thursday morning during a class project to determine the perimeter of the school. The third-grade class broke into groups to measure sections of the outside walls which they used to find the perimeter.
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Kiwanis auction Saturday at City Hall
The annual Richmond Kiwanis Club auction will take place Saturday from 9 a.m. until about 5 p.m. with proceedings carried live on TimeWarner Cable Channel 12 and WEKY 1340 AM Radio.
“We have lots of great stuff, as we always do,” said Amanda Stepp, the auction coordinator.
“We have gift cards for almost every restaurant in Richmond as well as two pickup trucks that will be sold,” she said. -
Man pleads guilty to voyeurism charge
A man accused of taking pictures of a woman showering at a Berea truck stop was sentenced to probation Wednesday in Madison District Court.
Paul S. Byrd, 41, of McKee, was arrested Oct. 29 by the Kentucky State Police after a woman reported the incident at the 76 Truck Center off Interstate 75. -
Berea one of state’s first five cultural districts
The Kentucky Arts Council on Thursday named Berea one of the state’s first five certified cultural districts.
Although the legislature designated Berea the state’s Arts and Crafts Capital in the 1990s, this newest designation will draw even more attention and tourism to the city, said Belle Jackson, Berea’s tourism director. -
LRC plans to appeal judge’s HB1 ruling
The leadership of the General Assembly announced Thursday it plans to appeal Franklin Circuit Judge Phillip Shepherd’s ruling that the legislature’s plan to re-draw state legislative boundaries is unconstitutional.
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Facebook post leads to arrest
A post on the Richmond Police Department’s Facebook page led to the arrest of a man suspected of stealing two Blu-Ray players from Walmart.
Walmart employees reported to police Jan. 25 that a man had concealed the electronics under his coat and attempted to leave the store without paying, said Richmond Police Chief Larry Brock in a news release. -
Four indicted in Berea murder case
The death of a Berea man and the attempted murder of another came at the hands of four people, according to indictments handed down Wednesday by a Madison grand jury.
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Friday at library : Lecturer to portray founder of Berea
John G. Fee, abolitionist and founder of both Berea and Berea College, will be portrayed Friday night by performer Obadiah Ewing-Roush as part of Kentucky Humanities Council Chautauqua performance series at the Madison County Public Library. There is no charge to attend the 7 p.m. event.
As the son of a slave-holding father, Fee witnessed firsthand the benefits of having slaves and the profits that could be made from their labor. When he graduated from college and enrolled in Lane Theological Seminary, he began to understand the inherent wrong and destructiveness of slavery. -
Berea woman dies Tuesday in Laurel County crash
A Berea woman, Tommie Johnson, 60, died Tuesday evening in a Laurel County crash, according to the the Laurel Sheriff’s Office.
The accident took place about 7 p.m. at the junction of Maple Grove Road and KY 363 south of London, as Johnson was attempting to turn onto the state highway.
Laurel County Chief Deputy Eddy Sizemore said Johnson’s Chevrolet Cavalier pulled out in front of a Dodge Durango driven by Charles Joseph, 19, that was traveling south on KY 363.
After being extricated from her vehicle, Johnson was transported to St. Joseph-London hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
Joseph also was transported to the hospital, where he was treated for minor injuries, according to the accident report. -
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Ian Rosser, an Eastern Kentucky University student from Lexington, clears snow from his car parked on campus Wednesday
morning after about an inch of snow fell in Richmond. Temperatures are forcast to be in the upper 40s today. Kentucky has seen a lot of rain in the past few months, as was predicted by the Farmer's Almanac, but very little snow has fallen. - More Local News Headlines
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