McHenry County court officials will embark on their third specialty court, all three of which make a great deal of sense in modernizing approaches to crime and important societal issues.

Drug court and mental health court have been successes so far, and there’s no expectation that domestic violence court won’t be another benefit to McHenry County based on the leadership that Judge Charles Weech and Scott Block, specialty courts coordinator, have shown.

In the past, all crimes have been treated in a similar way. But some criminal behavior can’t be separated from unique issues. If we expect results, these unique cases should not be handled in a traditional crime-and-punishment fashion.