A veterans' court is a "special court" which is charged with trying cases of minor offenses which involve
veteran
A veteran () is a person who has significant experience (and is usually adept and esteemed) and expertise in a particular occupation or field. A military veteran is a person who is no longer serving in a military.
A military veteran that h ...
s, particularly those diagnosed with
service-related illnesses. The first veterans' court was established in 2008 in
Buffalo,
New York, and has been used as a model for establishments of other veterans' courts in other parts of the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
. There are questions, however, about the judicial system allowing a "special class." Although the court only deals with misdemeanors, the prosecutors and judges can choose to allow defendants to agree to plead guilty to a misdemeanor, thus reducing the charges.
The system was created to address those veterans who are consistently facing various charges associated with addiction, homelessness, etc. This special allowance, however, often enables vets who aren't on that group to take advantage of avoiding prison. Also, violent felonies are specifically precluded from consideration.
San Diego
In January 2011, a Veterans' Court pilot program was established in
San Diego
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...
. Both veterans and active duty service members have been accepted as participants. To be accepted into the program the individual must meet certain criteria:
* The applicant must be a veteran of the
United States military
The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is th ...
.
* The charges that are brought against the applicant must have some relation to their military service.
* The applicant must be accepted into the program by the Veterans' Court Judge. Recommendations by the Veterans' Court team helps, but is not necessarily required.
There are certain charges that will preclude an applicant from being accepted in the program. Those are the more violent charges that include murder, manslaughter, homicide, rape or gang-affiliated crimes.
;Participation
Once an applicant is accepted they are considered a participant. Participation in the program consists of intensive supervision from probation, the VA and the court. Each participant must meet several goals in order to move to the next phase of the program, 4 in total. There is no set timeframe in which the program must be completed. While in the program each veteran must attend weekly therapy and, more often than not, counseling for Post Traumatic Stress. Bi-monthly urinalysis must be conducted at random either in a treatment facility or at the
VA hospital.
;Goal
The goal of veterans' court is to allow the veteran to be rehabilitated to the law-abiding citizen they were before their experience in the military and combat. There are no guaranteed incentives for any participant who satisfactorily completes the program. Typical incentives do include taking years off of probation and moving from formal to summarized probation. At the completion, fees can be waived, and felonies can be commuted, and under a new addition to
California Penal Code 1170.9, judges may expunge charges completely.
;The Team
The court process is aided by Veterans Justice Outreach representatives from the Veterans Administration. Representatives of the District Attorney's office, the Public Defender's office, treatment facilities and probation are also in attendance at every hearing. Each participant is also given a mentor to work one on one with throughout the process.
References
Further reading
*
Courts by type
Veterans' affairs law in the United States
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