Another veterans-only court established - Marine Corps News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Marine Corps Times

Another veterans-only court established

EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. — With combat duty in Vietnam under his belt, Madison County Circuit Judge Charles Romani Jr. knows veterans often have special issues in terms of drug treatment and mental illness. Soon, many of them may be getting an offer of special judicial help.

Taking a page from a similar program launched a year ago in New York, court administrators in this suburban St. Louis county plan to launch within weeks a court designed to deal with only military veterans charged with nonviolent crimes.

The mission: Divert many of the veterans from the criminal courts to a program that, much like popular drug courts, will offer them treatment for underlying issues, perhaps sparing them a criminal conviction if they successfully complete the treatment.

“There are a lot of services out there; one thing the court will be able to do is get them connected” with veterans, ideally keeping them from becoming repeat offenders, Ann Callis, the county’s chief judge, said Monday.

Veterans’ participation in the new will be voluntary, and Callis said it will be staffed by veterans from virtually every branch of the military. The prosecutor will be former Marine Corps Cpl. Michael Stewart, the public defender former Navy Lt. Tyler Bateman — officials Callis said “hopefully would have more of an understanding [of veterans’ issues] from being there.”

Callis said she hoped the veterans’ court would be under way locally by the end of February or early March, with no immediate expectations about how many veterans might take part.

No additional funding would be required for the court, and Madison County Bar Association lawyers will donate their services, Callis said. “Since we’re not asking for any money and it’s based on the spirit of volunteerism, we figured why don’t we just give it a shot?” she said.

“We’re going to try to benefit these people in many different aspects, and I think they deserve it,” said Romani, a former Army sergeant who served near the Demilitarized Zone during the Vietnam War.

Such courts have cropped up elsewhere. One was set to begin operations Monday in Rochester, N.Y., with the same judge who already oversees the local drug treatment and mental health court. That court was modeled after one launched in Buffalo about a year ago.

A similar court is being considered in Nevada’s Clark County, which includes Las Vegas, and in western Pennsylvania’s Allegheny County, which serves Pittsburgh and its suburbs.

“Caring for our fellow servicemen and -women is not something that should stop at the end of the duty day, or when we leave the security of military life,” said Brian Hodge, the Madison County probation officer and Air Force veteran of Desert Storm who will be heading the new court’s mentoring efforts.