The need for special Veteran Courts.

• Author: Walls, Samantha

The life of the law has not been logic: it has been experience. The felt necessities of the time, the prevalent moral and political theories, intuitions of public policy, avowed or unconscious, even the prejudices which judges share with their fellow-men, have had a good deal more to do than the syllogism in determining the rules by which men should be governed. (1)

-Oliver Wendell Holmes

A Reflection:

This summer I had the privilege to work for the Colorado Public Defenders Office under the Colorado Student Practice Act. I managed my own misdemeanor caseload, under the supervision of an attorney. To my surprise, I discovered that the majority of my clients were veterans, from both the Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Enduring Freedom wars, and the Vietnam War. Furthermore, most of the veterans stated that they suffered from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

I was unaware of the number of veterans in our criminal justice system. I made it a point to discuss with these clients their service and their readjustment back into society. We discussed their substance abuse issues, their social network, housing, and employment situations.

I, believing I was being innovative, thought that these veterans needed a special court, similar to a drug court. Little did I know that many others shared these same ideas, and in fact, Veteran Courts were spreading across the United States. I was able to shadow the Colorado Public Defender, Sheilagh McAteer, who helped create and run the recently established Veterans Trauma Court, in Colorado Springs, CO. It is from my experience this summer that I write this paper about the problems our veterans face when returning from war with psychological wounds, and the grave need for specialty Veteran Courts across our nation. The United States is not alone in its struggle to address the needs of veterans suffering from psychological wounds. In the current state of international affairs, many countries are joining forces to fight the same war. Therefore, the international community could benefit from addressing the psychological issues of soldiers as a collective group. The United States, in the implementation and progression of Veteran Courts, could lead the international community in providing appropriate treatment and care for its soldiers.

We are taught history so that we do not repeat the mistakes of the past. Yet here we are as a Nation, unequipped to care for our returning veterans, in a situation hauntingly reminiscent of the Vietnam War. We are allowing history to repeat itself. Instead of preempting the inevitable stress disorders that afflict soldiers when they return from war, we are now trying as best we can to pick up the pieces. The latest attempt: Veteran Specialty Courts.

The United States has sent approximately 1.64 million voluntary soldiers to serve in the Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) wars since 2001. (2) Some of those men and women have returned and some have yet to return home. We welcome soldiers home with open-arms; (3) unfortunately, soldiers often find those arms empty and unwelcoming, lacking the sufficient resources and understanding to assist the soldier in his or her transition back into civilian life. (4) We, as a Nation, have been ignorant to the deep psychological wounds inflicted upon soldiers by the trauma of war. (5) While there are mounting policy concerns and attempts, both by the government and by the public, to become knowledgeable about the psychological wounds endured from war, for many troops it is too late. The basic fact is that many of our troops have lost their lives to suicide, are already behind bars, or are currently involved in the criminal justice system. (6)

The soldiers' psychological wounds, mainly Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), affect every aspect of their daily life. (7) The veterans' behavior, resulting from the symptoms of these psychological wounds, often involves the veteran with the criminal justice system. Once within the criminal justice system, these symptoms may interfere with the veteran-defendant's ability to appropriately interact with the court system. To deal with the concerning number of veterans in the criminal justice system, some jurisdictions have recently implemented specialty courts for veterans with criminal charges. These courts are in lieu of the traditional criminal prosecution method, which provide treatment instead of incarceration, as a means to heal the veterans' psychological wounds. (8)

While the effects of TBI on the mental processes are potentially as serious as the effects of PTSD on the mental processes of the returning soldiers, this article will exclusively discuss the relation between PTSD, service in combat, and criminal behavior. Due to the recent medical diagnosis of TBI as a result of war, the extent of the effects of TBI is relatively unknown to medical researchers. (9) At this point, medical researchers do not have a solid understanding of how TBI affects a veteran's functional activity or how it relates to criminal behavior. (10)

The criteria of PTSD include "exposure to a life-threatening or other traumatic event [like combat, rape, or experiencing a natural disaster], a subjective response involving fear, helplessness, or horror, and symptoms from each of the following symptom clusters: intrusive recollections, avoidant/numbing symptoms, and hyper-arousal symptoms." (11) A veteran's exposure to a traumatic event during combat causes the development of PTSD. As opposed to civilians who suffer from PTSD after encountering a traumatic experience, PTSD is more severe for veterans because they are exposed to a greater number of traumatic experiences through continuous and unrelenting combat. (12) PTSD symptoms affect the way veterans interact within their social environments. (13) Anytime an individual suffering from PTSD is reminded of the initial trauma (i.e. through sounds, taste, smells) their body re-experiences the initial stress response. (14) PTSD causes the body to be constantly in an anxious stressed state which has a "deleterious effect on the brain." (15) An individual who suffers from PTSD commonly suffers from other comorbid diseases such as depression, substance abuse or an anxiety disorder. (16) In fact, individuals who suffer from PTSD have an average of 2.7 other mental health diagnoses. (17) Moreover, individuals with PTSD commonly abuse substances in an attempt to self-medicate. (18)

Individuals who suffer from PTSD require immediate and continuing treatment. The effects of PTSD grow more severe the longer an individual suffers from the traumatic symptoms. (19) Without treatment, people continue to experience symptoms for decades, a condition known as PTSD with lifetime prevalence. (20) Fortunately, the effects of PTSD can be reversed through treatment to address the initial traumatic event(s) and by helping the sufferer cope with the stressors of daily life without re-experiencing the feelings associated with the initial trauma. (21)

Part 1 of this article discusses the occurrence of PTSD in veterans, the contributing elements that limit the availability of treatment of veterans with PTSD, and lastly the prevalence of veterans in the criminal justice system. Part 2 discusses the recognized link, both by researchers and courts, between a PTSD diagnosis which results from service in combat and criminal behavior. Part 3 of this article describes and analyzes the proposed adequate way to deal with a veteran-defendant suffering from PTSD: Veteran Specialty Courts.

1. THE PROBLEM

   An increasing number of soldiers are returning home from war with substance abuse problems, psychological issues, rising rates of suicide, homelessness, and resulting criminal behavior. (22) In recent years, governmental and non-governmental interest groups have begun to study the effects of service in the OEF and OIF wars on the returning soldiers. The RAND group, on behalf of the Center for Military Health Policy Research, completed the first large-scale, non-governmental assessment of the psychological and cognitive needs of soldiers who have served in either the OEF or OIF wars. (23) The researchers concluded that "a major national effort is needed to expand and improve the capacity of the mental health system to provide effective care to service members and veterans." (24) Additionally, the Department of Defense Task Force on Mental Health has studied the current available health care for returning soldiers and veterans and concluded that "the system of care for psychological health that has evolved over the recent decades is insufficient to meet the needs of today's forces and their beneficiaries and will not be sufficient to meet their needs in the future." (25)

   Current treatment and care facilities for veterans and soldiers need to be expanded and improved in order to meet the growing number of soldiers and veterans with PTSD. Some have called the significant increase in the number of soldiers and veterans suffering from PTSD a social crisis. (26) The numbers vary depending on the study and its relevant assessment group, (27) however, it is estimated that of the current 2.3 million U.S. Veterans, approximately twenty to thirty percent, exhibit the symptoms associated with mental health disorders or cognitive impairments. (28) This breaks down to approximately 300,000 of the returning soldiers, or one in five, will likely suffer from PTSD. (29) Another study found that out of 100,000 soldiers returning from the OEF and OIF wars that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) treated between 2001 and 2005, almost one-third suffered from a mental health problem, most commonly diagnosed as PTSD. (30) In that study, more than half of the veterans suffered from a comorbid mental health problem along with PTSD, such as major depression, anxiety or substance abuse. (31) In fact, one in six soldiers suffers...