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What disease do you need to have that requires for you to have committed a crime to acquire? Judge Steven Bromberg who is currently a trial judge at Central court in Santa Ana. After that first meeting, we started going to lunch periodically and I realized that Judges are humans too. He was interested in learning about addiction and I saw someone who actually cared about people. Honorable Judge Steven Bromberg: Changed My View of the Criminal Justice System.

In 2009, I opened a facility in Anaheim that was the most rewarding facility I could imagine. The passion that drove me stemmed from my experience trying to meander my way through the hurdles of my legal issues. I decided that I wanted to create a program that offered the same services you would get in a very expensive program at a cost that was more reasonable then $20,000 a month and even more at times. I had the passion but I had no idea how I was going to do this. One idea that I had, which I was unsure on how well this was going to work was to walk into each courtroom in Orange County and give my card to the bailiff as I requested to meet with the judge. With all of my years experiencing the courts as something ugly, I remember having this knot in my stomach and nothing was comfortable about doing this. As I teach for New Creation College, this remined me of behavioral psychology. According to them, behavior is learned. Classical conditioning refers to what happens prior to learning that creates a response through pairing. It was first introduced by Ivan Pavlov and his famous dogs. During my entire life, I paired the court as a place of punishment. As Pavlov rang the bell causing his dogs to salivate, I would see a Bailiff, a judge or a district attorney that caused my stomach to ache, and my chest would tighten.

After about three months of doing this, I came across a judge, and honestly the first judge who seemed to actually be interested in what we were doing. I remember sitting down with him for the first time and expecting the typical what you do, how does it work, and thank you, the bailiff will see you out. But, I didn’t get that response.

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