AUGUSTA, Maine — A bill that would create a special treatment court for veterans dealing with drug addiction and mental illness was approved unanimously Tuesday by the Legislature’s Judiciary Committee.
The bill, sponsored by Rep. Maeghan Maloney, D-Augusta, would authorize the chief justice of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court to establish veteran treatment courts and to seek federal funding for these courts.
The proposed courts would operate similar to county drug courts but would serve veterans exclusively.
“This is an important first step towards meeting the unique needs of our veterans,” Maloney said in a statement after the vote. “The legislation will now move forward so we can stop treating some veterans like criminals instead of heroes.”
The bill, LD 1698, now goes to the House and Senate for votes.
Maloney’s bill was presented in memory of former Army Ranger Justin Crowley-Smilek of Farmington, who served in Afghanistan. Crowley-Smilek suffered from combat stress and physical injuries from service and was killed in a confrontation with the police last November.
During a public hearing late last month, a number of people testified about the benefits of a treatment court specifically for veterans. Maloney said one in five veterans nationally report symptoms of mental illness and Maine has approximately 150,000 veterans.
Maloney said if all the veterans enrolled in these new courts could meet on the same day and go through counseling together, likely with VA officials on-site, they might have a better chance of succeeding.
“We must continue to honor military service members by providing them with an alternative to incarceration,” she said. “They need proper treatment for mental health and substance abuse problems resulting from military service.”
Even better, she said, a host of veterans — from recent wars to as far back as World War II — have agreed to serve as volunteer mentors for the program.
Maloney also said she plans to work with U.S. Rep. Mike Michaud’s office to gain federal funding for the program. Michaud serves as the ranking member on the health subcommittee of the House’s Veterans Affairs Committee.
This is a bad idea. I appreciate what veterans have done for all of us but no one should be granted special treatment. Judges already have the ability to take circumstances into consideration when sentencing so why is this really necessary? This is a very slippery slope that will come to be abused as much as the Americans with Disabilities Act has been warped for every little thing.
Count me as a veteran that also does not like this idea.
Me too !
Well I’ve heard some of the statements about our disabled vets made by a certain Judge who still sits on a bench here and I’ll tell you He has not one care in the world about their “circumstances”.
If we didn’t send our vets into the hell of war then I’d say no special treatment also. But we do and that’s exactly why They need their own court.
What happens when a school experiences a catastrophic event such as a student is injured or killed in an accident. They send in all the shrinks and counselors right?
The Judges are only concerned about what the sentencing structure is for each charge before them. Thats why I think a Vet court is a good idea because it would be held by judges who understand vets. SO I suggest you reread the story and read LD1698 to get a better idea on what is being proposed.
P.S. Where did you read anything about the ADA in the story?
Count me as aVet does like this idea. If we had this for Vietnam Vets we might not have heard all those “Crazy Vietnam Vet” stories. I thank God our country has memory of how we were treated, it shows in the way we treat our current Vets coming home.
Veterans make up 40% of prisoners, near 50% of homeless, and if their children are counted as being affected by war through their veteran parent, secondary post traumatic stress illness, than it is much greater than a majority for sure.
This is the gift that keeps on giving.
War has created this enormous problem which is extremely expensive, the cost of war is endless and continues for decades. War is not the answer.
First off you should READ the article (and in your case read it REAL SLOW) so you’ll have some idea of what it’s about!
Where do you keep coming up with your “facts and figures” because you aren’t even close. Show us your references… Sad part is, some people will actually buy into your nonsense.
But since your comment has NOTHING to do with ( read this real slow) “Veteran’s court bill”, I’ll only refute one of your malicious lies. A joint report, conducted by the Department of Veterans Affairs along with the Department of Housing and Urban Development, says that while veterans make up only 10 percent of the population, they account for 16 percent of all homeless adults.
Veterans make up one in four homeless people in the United States, though they
are only 11% of the general adult population.
So to help out your feeble math skills Sergeant, “one in four” equals 25%.
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/04/01/report-finds-veterans-make-high-number-homeless/#ixzz1mSeiWTsH