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

Plausible,...Will the end justify the means,
In some cases yes if it is legit ably related to either a disorder or condition, i.e. PTSD, or in like. but if we put blanket role or law that covers all veterans and Active duty Service members then this can be an open door for Service Members to wreak havoc on the civilian public. We serve the civilians and need their confidence that we are their protector in the time of need.
I have to disagree with the 1SG Statement of the “3 strikes” especially when it comes to both drugs and alcohol. ONE time and the Max is thrown at the offender, but the higher the rank the ease of the punishment is lesser. I know mitigating circumstances for example a Female or Male is raped and during the course of this heinous act, the alleged rapist is maimed and killed, is it justifiable to execute the victims? Or imprison them? Everyone will say no but it the same happens before the act or commission of the crime the law is on the side of the rapist and not so favorable for the victims.
I think we as Veterans both Active and or Separated have the discipline and training to be better than to be a thug preying on the public. Yes there are a*holes that need their A* kicked but we are not the A* kicking police force just because we are veterans. I believe that if Conges vote to activate us to go to War then Yes We Are the A* Kicking Police force, But this is set by another complete real of rule and Laws.
James Petrik-SSG, USA (ret)

Why do some veterans have significant criminal records? The justice need to address the reasons for this so that the roots causes can be treated.

If you take into consideration that the majority of states and municipalities have been utilizing drug courts for drug users for the past 10+ years, then it seems fair that they should give Veterans a second-look and assist if possible with a specialized option. I was asked to be a mentor for a county Veterans court a few years ago. It took me awhile to understand the concept and how it really worked. Here a few points from my mentor program.
- Each Veteran has to request from their initial court to be entered into Veteran's court. Veteran's court has to accept them based on their charges and possible risk evaluation.
- The entrance into Veteran's court is usually decided as a plea agreement between their private lawyer and the prosecutor's office.
- The Veteran's court consists of five individuals: judge, prosecutor, probation officer, case manager, and public defender. These five work together as a team to decide on the course of action for each individual in the program. All five are present at each court hearing and they allow any private lawyers to attend if they wish.
- The case manager (and possibly the probation officer, depending on if they are ordered to have one) works one-on-one with the Veteran to set up their appointments with the VA or doctors, private lawyers, any sort of treatment program (AA, NA, anger management, etc).
- Our Veteran's court has a representative from the VA that attends all court hearings and is available to meet with the Veteran to answer questions about the VA and assist with getting appointments with the VA.
- Each Veteran is assigned a mentor and that mentor has to attend training to based on the court's requirements. Currently, all of our mentors are Veterans themselves.
- There are three progressive levels (gates) the Veteran must achieve in order to be released from the Veteran's court. Level 1 is designed as a six month focus on the Veteran stabilizing their life. For example, during Level 1, the Veteran meets with the case manager and once a week and attends court every other week to discuss their progress as to if they have a job, have enrolled in school, meetings and appointments they attend and so on. Level 2 is designed to give the Veteran a little freedom. During Level 2 they meet the case manager once every two weeks and attend court once a month. Also, during Level 2 (designed to last another six months) they continue to share their progress and what they are doing for themselves to ensure they won't re-offend. Level 3 is designed to let the Veteran work towards completion. During Level 3 they may speak with their case manager once every two weeks or so (usually allowed to be over-the-phone) and are asked to attend court if possible as they are afforded the opportunity to work through Level 3 more or less on their own. Level 3 is designed as another six month gate. So after approximately 18 months and if the Veteran has successfully completed all requirements and not re-offended they may graduate from Veteran's court. This allows the Veteran's court team to enter a judgement on their behalf for their original court and then the original judge can take that into consideration during their sentencing. I have seen some Veteran's receive a dismissal and others have their charges reduced.

From my perspective, the Veteran's court in which I am associated with is designed pretty well. It has an incredible team of individuals and can help the Veteran immensely put their trouble behind them, while also teaching them valuable stabilization techniques and offers them the ability to balance their lives, in hopes the Veteran will not re-offend.

I think its important that Veterans get a 'second chance', as we are a different breed, and have given up so much of our personal lives to further the democratic policies of our government for the whole of our nation. Veterans are taught how to be resilient and adapt to different environments, that doesn't mean some of us won't struggle with transitions though. I see my Veteran's court as a way to allow Veterans the ability to continue their service through their local community.

I came home from a deployment in 2009 shortly afterward my wife had a mental breakdown she went off the deep end and I hd to get help for her, her doctor gave me paperwork stating that if she attempted to hurt herself I was to restrain her, see she would hurt herself pretty bad and I mean bad. Anyhow in 2012 after being released from the Army we moved to Stevens county, my wife had another break down and I had to stop her from hurting herself, in the process my neighbors called the police, well they showed up a couple of hours after I got my wife calmed down and thinkin straight I told them what happened and my wife also explained to them what had happened, I went on to explain to them about how I had doctors orders to stop her from hurting herself, when I attempted to show them the paperwork I was arrested and charged with a domestic dispute, the public defender told me he did not care and that I would take whatever deal he made for me. So I fired him and hired an actual lawer.

Well after my new lawyer brought all of this to the prosecution they dismissed the charges for fear of a lawsuit if it went to trial.

Ever since then I have had nothing but trouble from the Stevens county deputy's, harassment even being threatend by deputy's after I stoped a couple of tweakers from robbing us. A dispute with one of my lovely neighbors accusing my dogs of killing their chickens resulted in a gun being pulled on me on my property, after I had called the police deputy Hoover threatend me with arrest. i won't de bullied on my property especially by an officer of the law and I explained this to deputy Hoover.

Like a lot of combat veterans I have PTSD and things like this seem to me to just be a way to send us over the edge.

But if there was a veterans court when the first incident happend I would have been able to stop any of this befor it drained my savings account,

The prisons at one time were filled with Vietnam Vets. They have now mostly passed away. When those Vietnam Vets returned, instead of a welcome home and all kinds of programs to help them re-enter society, it was like that group as a whole was set to face a 'SPEED TRAP'. You just did three years in the Army and You did two tours in Vietnam. Yet, You go to a package good store and You still can't buy alcohol. You explode before You can stop Yourself. You're in front of the judge and You get the speech, "You people got to be taught that You can't come back here tearing stuff up just because the rules are different than when You were in the Military." You see the picture I'm painting? The entire system was set up so Veterans did not receive the help they needed immediately because the people in charge knew many of them were going to wound up in jail, prison, or worst, dead. There is a 'ton' of help for Veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan and that's really great. However, that entire generation of Veterans before those two wars should be receiving just as much assistant as though they're coming out of the same wars with every other Veteran. No Veteran should be standing in front of a Civilian Judge for anything. Make the Military make room and oversee Veterans cases who break the law and then go through the WHOLE package before sticking that Veteran in some prison to rot away and live out the remainder of their life. We're taught to kill. As a Marine Buddy of mine once told me, "Every Marines' first job is an Infantryman and then what ever their other job is they were trained for.

While I'm happy this conversation was started and has generated a lot of great thought, I think the question is wrong. It's not that veterans deserve "special" treatment in courts. It's that veteran's deserve "different" treatment. Look, there are already DWI courts, Drug courts, Mental Health courts, etc. throughout the US. As a result, the US taxpayer and communities in general find themselves lessening their fiscal burden, releasing space in jails for actual violent criminals, and healing/helping those persons described above in ways that keep them from returning to our criminal justice system. The same holds true for communities, districts, etc, who have established veterans treatment courts. As a VTC mentor, I have seen the power of partnerships that come together to heal and help a veteran as opposed to warehousing him or her in a jail. The jail therapy rarely works and it's so much more expensive to do. No, I don't believe veterans (and I am one) deserve anything special. But we should be valued by our communities as "different" - in a positive way.

Depends on the severity crime and the willingness of the subject to attend either therapy or rehabilitation to prevent future infractions.

Sgt Charles Letness I strongly agree with your assessment on hireing veterans, Company's and local government talk the talk for publicity but unfortunately , they do not walk the walk. When I separated from active duty , I applied for a job with the county prison system as a guard, took the test and scored 6 out of 400+ applicants was interviewed. During interview work schedule was dicussed and seemed to be a go until I mentioned that I was still on active reserve and then everything changed and I was never called. That was 24 yrs ago and it seems that unfortunately nothing has changed.

When it comes to a person that has mental health issues, or PSTD, would have to say yes to a degree. However, my answer is no to others because in the Military, you are taught "Duty, Honor, Respect, Integrity" and you especially know what is right and what is wrong. No one was putting that gun to your head when you committed that crime. Whether it was speeding or robbing a bank.

No more than any other minority should get special treatment for criminal acts. When we start down of path if making excuses for criminal behavior outside of the individual that made the choice to conduct themselves in that fashion, we strip away the right to hold them accountable. Every person regardless of circumstances has the ability to choise to do the right thing. When they choose the dark path of the criminal world only the bright light of justice and direct consequences can help them.