Former military members who end up in the federal criminal justice system in Buffalo, N.Y., may have a chance to enter a local court dedicated to their rehabilitation, reports MainJustice.com. It’s the first time that military veterans charged with some federal crimes can participate in the Buffalo Veteran’s Treatment Court, the first such tribunal in the U.S., established in 2008.
“As a lifelong prosecutor, I have sadly come to realize that our criminal justice system, with increasing regularity, finds itself coming into contact with individuals who are military veterans,” said U.S. Attorney William Hochul. “Often times that contact is the result of mental health and/or drug and alcohol dependency issues related to their military service. Experience has shown that our traditional criminal justice system is ill-equipped to deal with these veterans.” The Crime Report explored the issue of veterans and the criminal justice system in this series: https://thecrimereport.org/2009/11/10/from-the-battlefield-to-prison-troubled-soldiers-and-the-u-s-justice-system/