Noelle Bush got a favorable ruling from the court today. The court decided that employees of the the drug rehab center where she is receiving treatment do not have to answer police questions about crack cocaine that was allegedly found in her shoe.

"Circuit Judge Belvin Perry ruled that federal law protecting a drug treatment patient's privacy outweighed the interest of police officers in a criminal investigation."

"If the drug treatment counselors were forced to give testimony, then "all patients who suffer relapses could be hauled out of treatment programs and into criminal courts on the whim of a state prosecutor or police officers," the judge wrote."

We agree. There is a far larger issue here than whether Noelle Bush is receiving special treatment. A ruling forcing the employees to provide testimony against her or to disclose what they observed or heard her say during treatment would have a chilling effect on all patients of such programs. If drug treatment is to be effective, it must remain subject to the strictest privileges so that patients can be confident that their words and deeds won't get reported and further incriminate them.