Bill would address veterans' issues in criminal justice system

Casey Seiler

Albany

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.

http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Bill-would-address-veterans-issues-in-criminal-5543327.php