NEW TREATMENT COURT WILL SPECIFICALLY TARGET CONVICTED VETERANS WHO ALSO HAVE UNDERLYING, RELATED ISSUES
KRISTEN ZAMBO
The Journal Times
Veterans and crime
According to Wisconsin Department of Corrections statistics:
• Racine County had 12,432 veterans
• Kenosha County had 10,439 veterans
• Walworth County had 6,763 veterans
• The three-county judicial district had a combined total of 29,634 veterans
• In the three-county judicial district, a total of 330 veterans were incarcerated
— Figures as of Sept. 30, 2011
If discharged, it must have been an honorable discharge or general discharge with honorable conditions, according to program requirements. Combat experience is not required
RACINE COUNTY — In about three months, what is believed to be the nation’s 92nd specialty treatment court for military veterans will open in southeastern Wisconsin and, at least initially, will operate from a Racine County courtroom.
This post-conviction Veteran’s Treatment Court is designed to combine substance abuse and mental health treatment, federal benefits and services already available to veterans, and punishment for the crimes they committed, advocates said Tuesday during an unveiling of the specialty court.
Proponents say they want to treat the underlying problems — such as alcohol abuse, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder or drug addiction — which led to these veterans breaking the law.
“It stops the revolving door through the criminal justice system,” Racine County Circuit Judge Eugene Gasiorkiewicz said Tuesday. “If we get these people early, their chance of success is greater than later on. This is less money that the county has to spend (later).”
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