SBAND Seminar Materials 2013 Free Ethics: Echoes of War The Combat Veteran | Page 23
The
U.S.
Supreme
Court
has
also
recently
recognized
Minnesota’s
veteran
sentencing
law.
In
Porter
v.
McCollum,
(No.
08-?10537.
Nov.
30,
2009)
the
Court
unanimously
reversed
a
Korean
War
veteran’s
death
sentence
because
evidence
of
his
war
service
and
psychological
injuries
were
not
taken
into
account
during
his
trial.
Citing
to
Minn.
Stat.
§
609.115,
Subd.
10,
the
Court
noted
that
“[o]ur
Nation
has
a
long
tradition
of
according
leniency
to
veterans
in
recognition
of
their
service,
especially
for
those
who
fought
on
the
front
lines,”
and
that
juries
“might
find
mitigating
the
intense
stress
and
mental
and
emotional
toll
that
combat”
can
have
on
the
veteran.
B.
Veterans
Treatment
Court
Established
in
Minneapolis
Minnesota
took
its
next
major
step
in
its
new
approach
to
veterans
in
the
justice
system
when
it
launched
the
Hennepin
County
Veterans
Court
in
July,
2010.
This
new
specialty
court
brings
an
unprecedented
level
of
expertise
and
resources
to
bear
to
assist
troubled
veterans
in
getting
back
on
their
feet,
recognizing
that
treatment
and
probation
is
often
preferable
to
a
single
stint
of
incarceration
in
getting
to
the
root
of
the
veteran’s
problem
and
ensuring
long
term
public
safety.
Other
jurisdictions
across
Minnesota
are
now
moving
to
implement
some
form
of
Veterans
Court
Process.
The
8th
Judicial
District,
comprised
of
13
counties
in
rural
West-? central
Minnesota
is
leading
the
charge,
aiming
to
create
the
nation’s
first
operational
rural
Veterans
Court
Process.
They
are
finding
that
they
can
do
the
job
without
additional
funding.
The
key
is
training
for
court
personnel
and
establishing
working
relationships
with
the
nearest
VA
medical
center.
The
federally-?funded
VA
provides
all
of
the
treatment
and
programming
and
communicates
with
the
court
if
a
veteran
is
not
following
through
with
their
ordered
treatment.
With
help,
many
troubled
veterans
can
get
back
on
their
feet
and
stay
there,
putting
their
life
experiences
to
work
and
becoming
assets
to
their
communities.
Untreated,
many
will
continue
to
act
out
for
the
rest
of
their
lives,
destroying
their
families,
presenting
an
ongoing
threat
to
public
safety
and
a
financial
burden
to
their
communities.
The
choice
is
ours.
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