Miscellaneous

Veterans' Court Update

By Anne Skove, Esq.

More news about Buffalo's Veterans' Court aired on Talk of the Nation yesterday.

Picking up on the earlier NPR story by Libby Lewis (who was also a guest), Mr. Conan spoke with a PTSD expert and others. Callers provided valuable insight from the vets' point of view.

Read/hear/post comments to How to Help Vets in Trouble with the Law, Talk of the Nation (May 7, 2008), and Old Problems, New Venue: Buffalo's Veterans' Court, court-o-rama (April 29, 2008).

We expect to see more courts like this, particularly in military areas such as eastern Virginia and southern California, and more of a focus on veterans by existing problem-solving courts.

We'd also like to see more awareness on the part of traffic courts, which seems like a likely place for PTSD sufferers to end up. Bridges, overpasses, viaducts, streets where drivers may encounter sudden noises, etc., are prime triggers for those still driving Iraq-combat-style.`

Legislatures, grantmakers, and other interested parties, take note: if you want to find problems, go to a problem-solving court. These courts operate to fill holes in the system. The courts are doing the best they can, but why not use them as the canary in the mine to identify shortcomings in social services, mental health, substance abuse treatment, veterans' services, etc.?

Full post as published by court-o-rama.org on May 08, 2008 (boomark / email).