ORLANDO, Fla. -- Gov. Jeb Bush's daughter cannot have her drug court hearings closed to the public, a judge ruled Tuesday.

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Chris Trenkmann Reports

Circuit Judge Reginald Whitehead said that drug courts are criminal proceedings and are open to the public in a 16-page decision that weighed a drug treatment patient's right to privacy against the public's right to have access to court proceedings.

"Drug court status hearings are first and foremost a criminal court proceeding,'' the judge wrote. "Drug court status hearings must be open to all participants so that all participants can observe each other's successes and failures.''

Whitehead scheduled a hearing for Thursday to determine if 25-year-old Noelle Bush can stay in her drug treatment program or whether she will be returned to the regular criminal justice system.

Attorneys for Noelle Bush had asked the judge to close future drug court status hearings, arguing that the governor's daughter had an expectation of privacy. But attorneys for the Orlando Sentinel and the South Florida Sun-Sentinel argued that drug courts were no different from criminal courts and subject to the same openness.

In interviews Tuesday, the governor said that his daughter's battle with drugs has strained his family but he accepted the judge's decision.

"The judge had to make that determination. All I can tell you is it's a lot harder to deal with drug addictions with these big lights, but it's his court,'' Bush said at a campaign stop. "The sad fact is, and the good news is, that frankly cameras and reporters aren't as interested in the other people in drug court, so they have some degree of privacy to be able to cope with their addictions.

"And I'm happy about that. I just wish my daughter would be given the same treatment," Bush said.

Bush also discussed Noelle's drug addiction in an interview on NBC's "Today." The governor, who is running for re-election, said her problems have been difficult for his family.

"It puts huge strains on families. It creates doubts amongst each other. If you talk to people, you know that it's hard not to blame yourself.''

Asked if he blames himself, Bush said: "No. I've stopped. I've stopped. I've learned not to. But it's hard. It's really hard on families.''

Noelle Bush was placed in the drug court system after she was accused of trying to use a fake prescription to buy the anti-anxiety drug Xanax in Tallahassee in January. She has been undergoing treatment at the Center for Drug-Free Living in Orlando since February.

Bush was sent to jail for two days in July after center workers found her with unauthorized prescription pills. Last month, a caller told Orlando police that Bush had a rock of crack cocaine in a shoe, but a judge later ruled that workers at the center cannot be forced to testify in court about Bush's case.

Asked if she has received preferential treatment, Bush said: "That is ridiculous. It's just not true. In fact as a father my concern is to make sure that she's treated as she should be treated and people don't go overboard because of who she is to treat her differently."

Bush said his daughter's addiction is difficult to handle as a father.

"I see pictures of her when she was 3 or 4 four years old and I vividly remember that,'' Bush said. "But now she's 25 and the laws apply to her as they apply to anyone else. I just hope the laws apply to her like anybody else.''