Should Veterans receive special treatment in Court after committing a crime?

When I was a law student in New York I volunteered at the Nassau County Veterans Treatment Court. I do not view it as special treatment based on veterans status. A specialist court such as the veterans court is ideal for veterans because veterans often have a similar underlying health issue and have a similar culture to build treatment upon. Society overall benefits because the recidivism rate is amazing low.

First are the underlying issues Traumatic Brain Injury(TBI) and Post traumatic stress syndrome(PTSD). Both can effect judgement and can lead to substance abuse. There was a solider that suffered TBI and before we got him into the Veterans Court the judge in the other criminal court was hostile, and the reason was the judge assumed his slurred speech was the result of drug abuse instead of TBI.

Next is the culture of the military that vets carry with them, even WWII era veterans still have it, and it provides an excellent base to begin treatment. When you have a certain set of commonalities it allows courts and treatment workers to tailor programs to better suit the patient.

Lastly, the recidivism rates are amazing low and in some courts zero. My time at Nassau County Veterans Court we had both ups and downs. The ups included people finishing the program and getting their lives in order. The downs included people failing their drug test the day before finishing the program.

In summary veterans courts benefit society, they better serve the treatment and rehabilitation aspect of judicial system and they are an overall most efficient use of judicial resources.

I agree with 1SG (P) Jerry Healy.

In every case there should be a Veteran's Court. The primary reason is that an individual with TBI's has many area's of non normal functioning areas than many of you do not know. Check this link and be educated.
http://www.neuroskills.com/resources/rancho-los-amigos-revised.php

Then we have many veteran's with PTSD. This comes with many types of psychological issues that may or may not lead to criminal behavior, or behavior that ends with a crime such as assault and battery upon an individual who may or may not deserve it.

There are also many other issues Veteran's have that demand, yes, demand a different kind of judging that so called normal civilians do not have.

Would you so quickly judge an individual who did something inappropriate, who has lost the ability to judge the behavior as such? Would you even recognize this by looking at them? No. You would not.
My main disability is invisible to the naked eye or to most observers. I am STILL trying to relearn some stuff, even points of sarcasm, that I lost to polytruamatic TBI issues beginning with a closed head injury that left me amnesiac, having long term memory loss, short term memory issues, and speech impediments>
I know what it is to 'not be normal', and I know what it is to be in a position where someone is judging me for something I don't quite get, as in a professor scolding me for some comment that is completely innocent to me, but for some reason, someone else found inappropriate.

HELL YES WE SHOULD!!!! There are many returning soldiers that have PTSD. The Army seems not to recognize it that way anymore. I have PTSD with SEVERE HYPER-VIGILANCE. I'm being treated for it - but no thanks to military that I gave 7 years of my life to & the V.A. FLATLY denied me any benefits.
Henri de la Garrigue

As is the case with most things in this world...It Depends.

What is the crime? If it is not a violent crime such as simple robbery or a misdemeanor I would want to know if it a direct result of something like PTSD that has not been well treated that should be.

I will say that for the most part in my mind (There are exceptions to everything) a veteran has demonstrated a higher capacity and should be held to a higher standard. Much like if a cop commits a crime, I would support harsher penalties for them as opposed to street urchins making a life of petty crime. They are held to a higher standard.

Veterans who commit crimes should get stiffer penalties.

Again though, there are so many different variables and as I mentioned before, It Depends.

yes

They should receive special treatment before they are sent home, lessening the likelihood they'll commit crimes. If, after they've been trained to cope, they commit crimes anyway, throw the book at them.

It depends on the crime

Only in cases of mental disorder, all others should be processed thru normal procedures.

Justice should be meted out equally, but we all know that does not happen. Because of social status, some citizens are more equal than others. Veterans should not be treated differently, unless their military experience has pushed them into mental illness and the justice system has a mechanism to address those issues. I think the court uses the philosophy of mitigating circumstances in dealing with veteran offenses and this is dependent upon the nature of the crime and level of violence if any is involved. Each case should and most often is, determined on its own merits.