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Veterans Courts Are An Alternative to Jail

By Real Cost of Prisons Project (The Sentencing Project)

These courts give wayward veterans a chance The first veterans court opened last year in Buffalo, N.Y.; its success stories have led to more across the country. By Nicholas Riccardi March 10, 2009 Los Angeles Times Reporting from Tulsa, Okla. -- U.S. military veterans from three decades pass through Judge Sarah Smith's courtroom here, reporting on their battles with drug addiction, alcoholism and despair. Those who find jobs and stabilize their lives are rewarded with candy bars and applause. Those who backslide go to jail. Smith radiates an air of maternal care from the bench. As the veterans come before her, she softly asks: "How are you doing? Do you need anything?" But if a veteran fails random drug tests, she doesn't flinch at invoking his sentence...continue to full post

Full post as published by The Real Cost of Prisons Weblog on March 10, 2009 (boomark / email).