Texas Tribune 5/17/10The War at Home More than 150,000 Texans have returned from the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan, many having spent months or years fueled by adrenaline and fear, inundated with death and grief. Back home, the struggle to cope with such traumas can erupt into addiction and crime.
To deal with those harsh realities, the Legislature last year authorized counties to create "deferred prosecution programs" for returning veterans who can prove that their delinquency can be traced to their combat exposure. The courts operate somewhat like the state's drug courts, prioritizing treatment or counseling over punishment for soldiers accused of crimes, mostly involving drug abuse and violent outbursts.
But the development of such efforts, still in their infancy, faces serious hurdles, both in their financing and in debates over how — and even if — they should operate. In Bexar County, District Attorney Susan Reed in January voiced strong opposition to a court that would bypass adjudication, essentially diverting the defendants to treatment without prosecuting and sentencing them first.
Texas has long been a home base for the United States military, housing some 1.7 million veterans, nine veterans state cemeteries and 18 active military installations stretching from San Antonio to Abilene. Still, for decades, the state has not had to deal with a large contingent of shell-shocked veterans returning from combat. The most consequential conflicts since Vietnam have changed that — but with lawmakers in Austin facing an estimated $18 billion budget shortfall in the coming legislative session, cash-strapped counties are facing inevitable questions about the courts' funding and operations.
"This war is very different"Last year’s legislation was led by state Sens. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston; Leticia Van de Putte, D-San Antonio; and state Rep. Allan Vaught, D-Dallas, who received a Purple Heart after a year in Iraq. The Texas Veterans Commission estimates 10 counties — Bexar, Dallas, Denton, El Paso, Fannin, Harris, Hidalgo, Orange, Tarrant and Travis — either have a veteran court system in place or are considering one. Many have high populations of veterans. Bexar County, for instance, is home to about 11,000 veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
Excellent read. I certainly hope that we find the money to continue this very important program in our counties and expand it. Every Republican legislator who claims to support veterans should be backing this program. We're going to need it more and more in the coming years as more of our soldiers from Iraq and Afganistan return home.
Bravo to Senator Rodney Ellis, Senator Leticia Van de Putte, and Rep. Allan Vaught! :patriot:
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