Drug Court graduates head towards new paths

Artasia Viges, Treatment manager La'Pearl Simmons and case manager Lashonda Payne
Artasia Viges, Treatment manager La'Pearl Simmons and case manager Lashonda Payne

By Bobby Ardoin Eunice News Correspondent It wasn’t a cap and gown graduation with a valedictorian and class favorites. Instead, the context for 16 graduates in a packed St. Landry Parish courtroom on Monday marked an escape from lives of dependency and probable jail sentences that may have cost them years of freedom. There was no testimony or criminal sentencing in what was a court of celebration…