Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Veterans Court: 'It’s Not a Free Ride
Washington County Attorney Pete Orput, launched a new Veterans Court diversion program that is designed to address the underlying psychological issues that have led an increasing number of combat veterans into run-ins with the law.
For veterans who find themselves embattled in the Washington County criminal justice system, help has arrived.
Washington County Attorney Pete Orput, a Vietnam combat veteran, launched a new Veterans Court diversion program on Monday that is designed to address the underlying psychological issues that have led an increasing number of combat veterans into run-ins with the law.
“We don’t leave any troops on the battlefield," said John Baker, a 22-year Marine Corps veteran and White Bear Lake defense attorney. "We take care of ourselves, and that’s what this program does.”
For the cases that fit the bill for Veterans Court will be heard on the first Friday morning of the month in Washington County District Court in Stillwater.
Before the hearing, members of the county attorney’s office, the defense, Veterans Affairs and community corrections will meet to discuss the case.
“We will do it on our own time,” Orput said. “On our Friday calendars. We don’t need a special set-aside Veterans Court. None of us have the money for it. But we’ve got the time. We’ve got the commitment. And we’ve got the collaboration. And that’s all it’s taken.”
Several years ago when Orput was working at the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office, he and his colleagues started seeing young veterans coming into the criminal justice system.
“We’re used to seeing people who chose to deal in criminal activity, but these people are different,” Orput said. “They had an outstanding record in the military. Why are they here now?”
Through research, it was determined than a large number of the combat veterans suffered from post traumatic stress disorder, brain injuries and stress, Orput said. It was pretty clear that those issues were driving them into the criminal justice system.
A Lesson Learned
For the last decade the United States has been a nation at war.
“As we’re winding down the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, preparing for the aftermath here at home, we have to look back at the past conflicts like Vietnam and learn from the mistakes that were made,” Defense Attorney Brock Hunter said during the unveiling of Washington County’s Veterans Court.
About 60,000 soldiers died on the battlefields in Vietnam, Hunter said. More than 100,000 took their own lives after the fact.
“The government’s own statistics confirm more than 1 million soldiers suffered long-term psychiatric injuries and half of those veterans seen by the VA system had contact with criminal justice system. Hundreds of thousands of Vietnam-era veterans remain incarcerated, homeless and chronically addicted 40 years after the war.”
But there is more knowledge about conflict trauma today, Hunter said.
“We’re seeing clear evidence of the effects on warriors emotionally, psychologically and physically," he said.
Looking at the current conflicts, there are a lot of additional issues to deal with, such as fighting with a small force and recycling soldiers back to the battlefield again and again and again, Hunter said.
Then there’s the 25 percent unemployment rate veterans are facing when they come home.
“Unlike other conflicts many veterans have served two or three tours and others that have served four, five, six, seven and even eight,” he said. “When they start coming home in large numbers, be prepared.”
One of those veterans is Hector Matascastillo and another is Dan Hanson.
Both men returned home from service, were diagnosed with mental illness as a result of exposure to what they saw in combat and found themselves on the wrong side of the law.
These two men show why Veterans Court is so important, Orput said.
Logistics
The first logistical obstacle for the Veterans Court is identifying combat veterans.
What was learned years ago, Orput said, is that combat veterans who get involved in the criminal justice system—because they’re trained so well—are a “really tough nut to crack.”
“We’ve made them into supermen so they’re not ones to come in and say, ‘Hey, I’ve got a malady,’” Orput said. “They don’t. They’ll go through the whole jail and criminal justice system and not say boo.”
That’s in part because they think if the VA finds out, they will lose their benefits—and “that’s nonsense,” Orput said.
Combat veterans are also not good at admitting they have a weakness or a problem, and that’s where screenings come in to play.
The first questions asked when a person arrives at jail are where do you live, how old are you and are you a veteran, Orput said. But if they lie to the jailer, that’s where the public defender comes in and screens them.
After learning if the person is a combat veteran suffering from, or able to be diagnosed with, PTSD or other combat-related maladies, the veteran will go to the arraignment.
At the arraignment, a request will be made for the next hearing to take place before a Veterans Court judge to explore his eligibility for the diversion program.
“If they have the diagnosis, they’re almost home,” Orput said. “They get the lawyer, admit what they did was wrong and make amends.”
Then they have to decide if they want to go through “Door A” or “Door B.”
“Door B is where you go to jail and play Monopoly, smoke and joke and get out and do it again and again and again,” Orput said. “Door A is the harder one that takes a lot more courage because now you have to face the demons—and that’s a long-term deal.
“It’s not a free ride,” he continued. “There’re lots of people who would rather do 60 days in jail than what we’re asking them to do. It’s a hard, painful program starting with chemical dependency and then getting into the real deep stuff—because it never goes away, you just learn to manage it.
“But if they clean themselves back up, get in the saddle, work with a mentor and get a job to raise their kids, then we’re square. We’re even. I think that’s the moral thing to do. A little redemption, if you will, because I think we all deserve some.”
A ‘Typical Case’ for Veterans Court
But the line has to be drawn somewhere.
A veteran can’t kill someone, say they have PTSD and walk, Orput said.
“You can’t do a serious prison offense and expect to get a walk," he said. "That would be unfair. That would be a two-tiered system.”
A typical case for the Veterans Court would be a veteran who comes home, can’t find a job, starts self medicating, drinking and playing violent video games because that’s the only thing that distracts them, Orput said. Sooner or later his wife comes down and says when are you going to quit drinking and find a job.
“Now he’s in jail on a domestic,” Orput said. “The question quickly becomes, do you want me to put the boots to him or do you want me to try to do something that will get him back—and with his family—but it’s a lot of hard work."
The way the state sentencing guidelines are set up, anyone who would be presumptively going to be sent to prison under the guidelines would not qualify for this program, Washington County Judge Greg Galler said. Exceptions can be made, but it’s designed for folks who would presumptively not be sent to prison.
Galler, who will be one of two judges of the Veterans Court, said he thinks this is a great program.
When looking at the things these people have given so we can have a court system, freedom and all the things we enjoy, there has to be a willingness to do something to help get them back into the society they protected, Galler said. That’s really what this is.
“It’s looking at a situation where there is a guy or gal who was willing to risk everything for us and now they have defects because of the problems they had,” he said. “They come back with PTSD, alcoholism or whatever it is and we’re saying we’ve got to help these folks and get them back to where they are supposed to be.
“It’s not a free pass. They have to take responsibility for what got them into my courtroom, but I’m going to get them out of my courtroom and turn them into productive members of society, rather than shoving them down some rabbit hole and saying we don’t care about you anymore.”
For veterans who find themselves embattled in the Washington County criminal justice system, help has arrived.
Washington County Attorney Pete Orput, a Vietnam combat veteran, launched a new Veterans Court diversion program on Monday that is designed to address the underlying psychological issues that have led an increasing number of combat veterans into run-ins with the law.
“We don’t leave any troops on the battlefield," said John Baker, a 22-year Marine Corps veteran and White Bear Lake defense attorney. "We take care of ourselves, and that’s what this program does.”
For the cases that fit the bill for Veterans Court will be heard on the first Friday morning of the month in Washington County District Court in Stillwater.
Before the hearing, members of the county attorney’s office, the defense, Veterans Affairs and community corrections will meet to discuss the case.
“We will do it on our own time,” Orput said. “On our Friday calendars. We don’t need a special set-aside Veterans Court. None of us have the money for it. But we’ve got the time. We’ve got the commitment. And we’ve got the collaboration. And that’s all it’s taken.”
Several years ago when Orput was working at the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office, he and his colleagues started seeing young veterans coming into the criminal justice system.
“We’re used to seeing people who chose to deal in criminal activity, but these people are different,” Orput said. “They had an outstanding record in the military. Why are they here now?”
Through research, it was determined than a large number of the combat veterans suffered from post traumatic stress disorder, brain injuries and stress, Orput said. It was pretty clear that those issues were driving them into the criminal justice system.
A Lesson Learned
For the last decade the United States has been a nation at war.
“As we’re winding down the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, preparing for the aftermath here at home, we have to look back at the past conflicts like Vietnam and learn from the mistakes that were made,” Defense Attorney Brock Hunter said during the unveiling of Washington County’s Veterans Court.
About 60,000 soldiers died on the battlefields in Vietnam, Hunter said. More than 100,000 took their own lives after the fact.
“The government’s own statistics confirm more than 1 million soldiers suffered long-term psychiatric injuries and half of those veterans seen by the VA system had contact with criminal justice system. Hundreds of thousands of Vietnam-era veterans remain incarcerated, homeless and chronically addicted 40 years after the war.”
But there is more knowledge about conflict trauma today, Hunter said.
“We’re seeing clear evidence of the effects on warriors emotionally, psychologically and physically," he said.
Looking at the current conflicts, there are a lot of additional issues to deal with, such as fighting with a small force and recycling soldiers back to the battlefield again and again and again, Hunter said.
Then there’s the 25 percent unemployment rate veterans are facing when they come home.
“Unlike other conflicts many veterans have served two or three tours and others that have served four, five, six, seven and even eight,” he said. “When they start coming home in large numbers, be prepared.”
One of those veterans is Hector Matascastillo and another is Dan Hanson.
Both men returned home from service, were diagnosed with mental illness as a result of exposure to what they saw in combat and found themselves on the wrong side of the law.
These two men show why Veterans Court is so important, Orput said.
Logistics
The first logistical obstacle for the Veterans Court is identifying combat veterans.
What was learned years ago, Orput said, is that combat veterans who get involved in the criminal justice system—because they’re trained so well—are a “really tough nut to crack.”
“We’ve made them into supermen so they’re not ones to come in and say, ‘Hey, I’ve got a malady,’” Orput said. “They don’t. They’ll go through the whole jail and criminal justice system and not say boo.”
That’s in part because they think if the VA finds out, they will lose their benefits—and “that’s nonsense,” Orput said.
Combat veterans are also not good at admitting they have a weakness or a problem, and that’s where screenings come in to play.
The first questions asked when a person arrives at jail are where do you live, how old are you and are you a veteran, Orput said. But if they lie to the jailer, that’s where the public defender comes in and screens them.
After learning if the person is a combat veteran suffering from, or able to be diagnosed with, PTSD or other combat-related maladies, the veteran will go to the arraignment.
At the arraignment, a request will be made for the next hearing to take place before a Veterans Court judge to explore his eligibility for the diversion program.
“If they have the diagnosis, they’re almost home,” Orput said. “They get the lawyer, admit what they did was wrong and make amends.”
Then they have to decide if they want to go through “Door A” or “Door B.”
“Door B is where you go to jail and play Monopoly, smoke and joke and get out and do it again and again and again,” Orput said. “Door A is the harder one that takes a lot more courage because now you have to face the demons—and that’s a long-term deal.
“It’s not a free ride,” he continued. “There’re lots of people who would rather do 60 days in jail than what we’re asking them to do. It’s a hard, painful program starting with chemical dependency and then getting into the real deep stuff—because it never goes away, you just learn to manage it.
“But if they clean themselves back up, get in the saddle, work with a mentor and get a job to raise their kids, then we’re square. We’re even. I think that’s the moral thing to do. A little redemption, if you will, because I think we all deserve some.”
A ‘Typical Case’ for Veterans Court
But the line has to be drawn somewhere.
A veteran can’t kill someone, say they have PTSD and walk, Orput said.
“You can’t do a serious prison offense and expect to get a walk," he said. "That would be unfair. That would be a two-tiered system.”
A typical case for the Veterans Court would be a veteran who comes home, can’t find a job, starts self medicating, drinking and playing violent video games because that’s the only thing that distracts them, Orput said. Sooner or later his wife comes down and says when are you going to quit drinking and find a job.
“Now he’s in jail on a domestic,” Orput said. “The question quickly becomes, do you want me to put the boots to him or do you want me to try to do something that will get him back—and with his family—but it’s a lot of hard work."
The way the state sentencing guidelines are set up, anyone who would be presumptively going to be sent to prison under the guidelines would not qualify for this program, Washington County Judge Greg Galler said. Exceptions can be made, but it’s designed for folks who would presumptively not be sent to prison.
Galler, who will be one of two judges of the Veterans Court, said he thinks this is a great program.
When looking at the things these people have given so we can have a court system, freedom and all the things we enjoy, there has to be a willingness to do something to help get them back into the society they protected, Galler said. That’s really what this is.
“It’s looking at a situation where there is a guy or gal who was willing to risk everything for us and now they have defects because of the problems they had,” he said. “They come back with PTSD, alcoholism or whatever it is and we’re saying we’ve got to help these folks and get them back to where they are supposed to be.
“It’s not a free pass. They have to take responsibility for what got them into my courtroom, but I’m going to get them out of my courtroom and turn them into productive members of society, rather than shoving them down some rabbit hole and saying we don’t care about you anymore.”
Monday, January 30, 2012
Military Sexual Trauma
In simplest terms MST could be defined as any unwanted sexual advances towards a male or female serving in the military that causes duress or distress. Does MST really exist? The answer is a resounding yes. According to the US Department of Veterans Affairs roughly 1 in 5 woman and 1 in 100 men identified with having some form of MST during routine screening when seeking services through the Veterans Administration. However, not everyone who identifies with having MST in some form requires or seeks those services. In 2005 the US Department of Defense Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office (SAPRO) indicated that there were 2374 reports of claimed sexual assault of service personnel, of which 2047 were unrestricted and 327 were restricted. In 2010 SAPRO indicated there were 3158 reports of claimed sexual assault of service personnel, of which 2410 were unrestricted and 748 were restricted.
Although these reports may be statistically significant, they also could be misleading. The reports appear on the outset to indicate an overall increase in MST, but this is not necessarily the case. The report indicates an increase of “reporting” of claimed sexual assaults which could be due to a number of factors such as an increase in people joining the military or a decrease in those who were hesitant to report MST. Because many times MST goes unreported due to a lot of different factors, any increase in reporting should be welcomed to help get rid of the problems associated with reporting MST. Within the military, people often rely on each other in various ways and often have to work together for long periods of time. Any type of breakage of military unwritten codes or culture is met with scrupulous resistance due to the high demand for solidarity among and within groups of solders. This is problematic for the victim of MST for it could create anxiety, tension, stress and possibly poor psychological well being which ultimately could result in a trauma related lasting disorder such as chronic Post Traumatic Stress. Regardless, MST is a recognizable and continued problem in the armed forces.
What can those who suffer from MST do about it?
There are treatments and resources available for MST victims. There are some therapeutic treatment options that have been shown to be affective for those who suffer from MST such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT), Exposure Therapy (EP), and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy.
There are also resources available for services for MST:
Make the Connection
After Deployment
Department of Veterans Affairs
VA Medical Facility Finder
My Duty (for active military)
DOD Helpline
Women Veterans Health
Military Sexual Trauma Podcasts
My Military Education
VET WOW
Gift From Within
Although these reports may be statistically significant, they also could be misleading. The reports appear on the outset to indicate an overall increase in MST, but this is not necessarily the case. The report indicates an increase of “reporting” of claimed sexual assaults which could be due to a number of factors such as an increase in people joining the military or a decrease in those who were hesitant to report MST. Because many times MST goes unreported due to a lot of different factors, any increase in reporting should be welcomed to help get rid of the problems associated with reporting MST. Within the military, people often rely on each other in various ways and often have to work together for long periods of time. Any type of breakage of military unwritten codes or culture is met with scrupulous resistance due to the high demand for solidarity among and within groups of solders. This is problematic for the victim of MST for it could create anxiety, tension, stress and possibly poor psychological well being which ultimately could result in a trauma related lasting disorder such as chronic Post Traumatic Stress. Regardless, MST is a recognizable and continued problem in the armed forces.
What can those who suffer from MST do about it?
There are treatments and resources available for MST victims. There are some therapeutic treatment options that have been shown to be affective for those who suffer from MST such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT), Exposure Therapy (EP), and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy.
There are also resources available for services for MST:
Make the Connection
After Deployment
Department of Veterans Affairs
VA Medical Facility Finder
My Duty (for active military)
DOD Helpline
Women Veterans Health
Military Sexual Trauma Podcasts
My Military Education
VET WOW
Gift From Within
New Program for Veterans in Prison
Florida has developed a new program for imprisoned veterans aimed at easing their transition back to society and keeping them out of prison for good. As reported in The New York Times, this program, begun in August, puts honorably discharged veterans, with no more than three years left on their sentences and who volunteer to participate, in separate dorms. While the group eat with other inmates in the prison and must adhere to the same visitation and telephone schedules, their days are very different. For these vets, it’s a return to military life. California and Illinois have similar programs.
Days include formation and flag-raising and retiring ceremonies. Each man’s bunk displays a card with his photo, branch of service, and years served. The beds and dorms are as clean as would be found on any military base. The prisoners must remain drug-free. The military expectation of honesty and respect are demanded of all participants. There is a single warning for infraction. Second offenses mean expulsion from the program.
By putting the veterans together, they return to the military discipline they once knew. They develop a camaraderie of helping each other. They can learn about the services available to them as vets when they are released. They can receive care for PTSD, as well as take classes to prepare them for jobs and the stress of returning to civilian life. As one prisoner explained, “It’s re-instilling some of the values I once had that I hope to have again…[the return to military rituals] are bringing up these old memories, of being an upstanding citizen.” The assistant warden of the prison said of the program’s participants, “You could see the pride come back.”
Veterans who break the law must, like anyone else in our society, pay for their crimes. But if the goal is to rehabilitate prisoners and help them successfully return to productive lives, this program offers a new way of looking at how we treat veterans whose previous service to their country has been treasured.
Days include formation and flag-raising and retiring ceremonies. Each man’s bunk displays a card with his photo, branch of service, and years served. The beds and dorms are as clean as would be found on any military base. The prisoners must remain drug-free. The military expectation of honesty and respect are demanded of all participants. There is a single warning for infraction. Second offenses mean expulsion from the program.
By putting the veterans together, they return to the military discipline they once knew. They develop a camaraderie of helping each other. They can learn about the services available to them as vets when they are released. They can receive care for PTSD, as well as take classes to prepare them for jobs and the stress of returning to civilian life. As one prisoner explained, “It’s re-instilling some of the values I once had that I hope to have again…[the return to military rituals] are bringing up these old memories, of being an upstanding citizen.” The assistant warden of the prison said of the program’s participants, “You could see the pride come back.”
Veterans who break the law must, like anyone else in our society, pay for their crimes. But if the goal is to rehabilitate prisoners and help them successfully return to productive lives, this program offers a new way of looking at how we treat veterans whose previous service to their country has been treasured.
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