Veterans' court set to hear cases in Sussex

A new specialty court for veterans who run afoul of the law will begin hearing cases in Sussex County later this month, expanding the problem-solving legal concept to each of the state's three counties.

Until now, Sussex cases deemed candidates for the court were transferred to the Kent County courtroom of William Witham, established in 2011. Over the past year, the need for expansion became apparent, he said; six months ago, James Vaughn, president judge of the state's Superior Court, approved its formation.

"We wanted to make sure we had enough of a potential calendar," Witham said. "Once we got up to about 10 referrals from Sussex County that I was handling in Kent, we decided to have the court set up down there."

The nation's veterans treatment courts, which have grown from one in 2008 to roughly 190 today, are grounded in figures showing that one in six veterans who've served since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, suffer from a substance abuse issue and that 21 percent of post-9/11 veterans have been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. Those issues can "directly lead" to problems with the law, according to Justice for Vets, the nonprofit national face of the courts.

The courts, not universally embraced due to their selective nature, are akin to more familiar "problem-solving" courts such as those for non-violent drug cases. In practice, their operations vary from state to state, even court to court – there is no national standard. But all combine a regular court appearances, courtroom discipline, tough love, veteran mentorship and ready access to health and other services provided by the Veterans Health Administration to give veterans "the tools they need to once again live as productive citizens," as Justice for Vets terms it.

Defendants' charges are deferred during the program; if the treatment plan is followed and the veteran "graduates," the charges are dismissed.

Advocates say the concept works.

"It's a positive thing," said Ken Haltom, an Army veteran who prosecutes the Kent court's cases.

"We are connecting these guys with the VA. And I know the VA has taken it on the chin for the last year. But the VA is delivering in this program. They really are. These guys – many of them, for the first time, are not only getting treatment through the VA, but they're getting their educational benefits, too."

For Richard Stokes, the judge who will preside over the new Sussex County court, it's a chance to apply lessons he learned in the early 1970s as an Air Force judge advocate at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, when drug abuse in the ranks was a significant problem.

"I think this an opportunity," said Stokes. "And I think it will grow. And I think, for those people that will be in the program, I'm hopeful that it will work, and things will improve. The goal in all of this is to get a bridge for the veteran to back into society, and to be able to function as well as one can, with the problems that they have."

The Delaware numbers, a small sample compared to longer-standing courts, show positive results. In the Kent court, now 3½ years old, 89 percent of the 71 veterans have graduated from the nearly year-long diversion program. Haltom couldn't provide precise statistics on the number of participants or graduates who've subsequently gotten into trouble but anecdotally, he said, it's been "two or three guys in the last 18 months who've picked up charges ... nothing serious."

"Our rates of recovery are excellent," said Witham, a retired Army colonel.

In addition to access to VA services, the key to success, judges around the country agree, is the involvement of mentors – generally veterans – who are paired with defendants, giving them someone to lean on and learn from as they navigate the program's other elements.

The Kent County program got off to a tough start, with only one veteran mentor on board for the first 18 months or so. That's changed dramatically; Witham now counts 25 mentors. New Castle, a younger program, has more than 10, said Jan Jurden, until recently the judge who sat on the New Castle County court's bench.

The cases such courts accept vary. Most veterans courts accept only those involving veterans with mental health diagnoses or substance abuse issues; in Delaware, one only needs to be a veteran. Cases must first be approved by the state attorney general.

Participants have to toe the line. Those that do not risk being sent back to regular Superior Court.

"He was a Sussex guy that was put into the Kent County program," Haltom said of one veteran. "Picked up a DUI in Kent County. He pled guilty to that outside of the program, and then was terminated from the program."

Problem-solving courts are not without their critics, some of whom ask why individuals accused of breaking the law deserve special consideration because of their military service. For Jurden, who passed the New Castle veterans court bench to fellow judge (and former Marine) Paul Wallace two months ago in order to concentrate on mental health court and her regular docket, it's the wrong question to ask.

"I think that that presumes they are somehow not receiving the appropriate punishment for the crime that they commit," said Jurden, herself an Army veteran. "And that's not the right starting point.

"The starting point is these veterans have risked their lives for their country, and most of them are involved in the criminal justice system as a result of undiagnosed or improperly or untreated mental illnesses or substance abuse that stems in large part or maybe wholly from what they've witnessed and what they've endured in uniform," Jurden said. "And we're trying to improve outcomes for them once they enter the criminal justice system, which benefits everyone."

Contact William H. McMichael at (302) 324-2812 or bmcmichael@delawareonline.com. On Twitter: @billmcmichael

Veterans treatment court in Delaware, by the numbers, as of As of July 14

Kent County (est. February 2011)

Total diversion cases, to date: 71

Graduations: 63

Terminations: 6

Neutral discharges: 1

Voluntary terminations: 1

Average length of time in program: 309 days

New Castle County (est. January 2013)

Total diversion cases: 16

Graduations: 15

Terminations: 0

Neutral discharges: 1

Voluntary terminations: 0

Average length of time in program: 289 days

Source: Kent County Veterans Treatment Court