Justice Stratton: Ohio vets courts recognize what society has demanded

Justice Stratton: Ohio vets courts recognize what society has demanded Ohio now has four veterans courts, and the demand is expected to grow as troops return home Twelve veterans whose service spanned from Vietnam to Iraq received their graduation certificates from Mansfield Municipal Judge Jerry Ault  last month. They were graduating from one of Ohio’s first veterans courts. There are ongoing efforts to recognize that – as with many aspects of life – vets have needs that don’t always fit with the traditional justice system.

In some ways, the veterans’ courts are much like Ohio’s mental health courts.  And in some ways, they’re the work of the same woman --Ohio Supreme Court Justice Evelyn Stratton. She pushed Ohio to adopt mental health courts. They use a team approach to assess needs of defendants with severe mental illness, to prioritize them, and create a plan. And Stratton says she’s pushing the state to adopt a similar approach with vets. “Some people say, ‘Why are we treating them differently.  They’re criminals just like anybody else.’  And my answer is most of them entered the system, went into the military with no criminal record.  There’s a lot of them that never had these issues until they came back from the war. They come out, they’re damaged.  They have all sorts of issues they didn’t have before. We damaged them by sending them to defend us. We have this special extra obligation to really reach out and try to make their lives different.” Hidden problemsStratton says veterans are often dealing with issues like post-traumatic stress disorder.  And then there’s substance abuse. She says ordinary courts often cannot recognize these issues and their links to a defendant’s legal problems. “Many of them are also coming back with traumatic brain injury which is hugely unrecognized, untreated,. Civilian doctors do not know how to deal with it.  It is just a really underreported issue.  So we’re trying to train and educate all of these different groups that deal with the defendant. It may really explain a lot of  their criminal behavior, and if you can treat the TBI or PTSD, sometimes you really get at the roots of why they’re acting out.” More demand as  more  troops return A new report from the Government Accountability Office says nearly 140-thousand Iraq and Afghanistan veterans got mental health care from the VA last year – more than three times the number reported in 2006. And Stratton expects the need for vets courts to grow as the U.S. withdraws thousands of troops from Iraq and Afghanistan over the next year. A key part of the  court program is pairing each defendant with a volunteer mentor who had a similar experience in the service. Bill Mohr is a mentor in Mansfield. He says having someone who is sympathetic to what a vet is going through is essential during the transition to civilian life.  Mohr hears their stories, and says recognizing traumatic brain injury is the issue he sees most in the defendants who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. “I would probably say sixty percent of what I’ve seen of  the guys I’ve talked to, because of roadside bombs. If you would see that in a normal court, they wouldn’t understand.” Defendants aren’t required to meet with their mentors. But Mohr says many of the Mansfield defendants simply do. 'Yes, Sir!' Mansfield Municipal Judge Jerry Ault insists his court does not simply excuse vets who commit crimes ranging from drug abuse to domestic violence.  The requirements in his veterans’ court are often more strict than regular probation. And failure to abide by them lands defendants back in regular court. But those who complete the program can qualify for  reduced charges and even dismissals. At the first public graduation ceremony for his court, Ault said the difference between vets and other defendants became clear in his first session two year ago. “I called the first individual up, and I’m talking to him, and he addresses me as sir.  Now I’ve been called a lot of things in the court room, and rarely is it ‘sir’.  The respect we get from these men and women is amazing.” Ault says a veteran’s military training is an asset in this program because he or she is trained to follow direction and execute orders. Jail is a bad alternative Justice Stratton says veterans courts succeed because they connect veterans with help for mental illness and substance abuse, and with finding jobs and housing and in dealing with civil matters like divorce, custody and bankruptcy. She says helping vets with those problems while they’re facing criminal charges can treat the root of the problem, prevent repeat offenses, and is cut costs.  And, Stratton says, addressing veterans’ mental health needs helps them and the justice system. “Jail is the last place you should put somebody with a serious mental illness” Ohio now has four veterans’ courts.  Mansfield was the first. The other municipal courts are in  Youngstown and Cleveland.  Hamilton County Common Pleas Court in Cincinnati is the only one in the state to deal with more serious felonies.