Bill Would Address Veterans’ Issues in Criminal Justice System

Times Union; Casey Seiler, 6/12/2014

 

Public defenders and military veterans are pushing the Justice for Our Veterans Act, a bill that would create a legal framework in which current or former members of the military accused of crimes would be assessed to see if problems related to their service — whether mental or physical — contributed to their alleged misdeeds.

“Before the passage of this bill, untreated veterans with mental health conditions who commit crimes are lost in the criminal justice system,” said Art Cody, who directs the veterans defense program for the New York State Defenders Association, in a Tuesday news conference at the Capitol. “Often, they are sentenced by judges who do not even know they are veterans, much less have any understanding of what they’ve been through and how that may have affected their mental health.”

Advocates said the bill should not be perceived as a “get-out-of-jail-free card” for veterans.

Cody went step-by-step through an elaborate flow chart that detailed the proposed framework, which includes a professional evaluation of whether a defendant veteran suffers from a condition that could have played a role in the crime he or she is accused of, leading through court-monitored treatment under the provisions of the “alternative disposition” program.

Those charged with Class A violent felonies such as murder, kidnapping and first-degree arson and sex offenses including rape would not be eligible for diversion. Judges would be able to direct a defendant off the program at any point in the interest of public safety.

Jennifer Nunnery, an Army combat vet who served two tours in Iraq, said it was necessary to make those accused of assault and domestic violence eligible for the alternative program.

“Let’s make it clear that the veterans who commit those crimes are the veterans that are currently the most in need of our help,” said Nunnery, who said that male vets with PTSD were two to three times more likely to commit acts of domestic violence than non-veterans.

Gary Horton of the Defenders Association said he was confident the bill would withstand any constitutional concerns that it might create a special class of defendants within the criminal justice system.

“Veterans are different, and unless you understand the military experience and the military culture and what these young people … went through, you don’t understand the basis for their actions and their conduct,” Horton said.

The bill, sponsored by Republican Sen. Joe Griffo and Democratic Assemblyman Anthony Brindisi, was voted out of the state Senate’s Codes Committee on Monday. Advocates said the Assembly’s Democratic leadership had offered assurances it would be taken up in the chamber if the Senate approves it.

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