Veterans Courts

Reading the news this morning, I was extremely happy to hear that Dallas County is creating a specialized court for veterans with combat trauma. These courts will address the issue of veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder and seek treatment for them rather than punishment. I find this very refreshing and yet almost too little too late. Do we really have to get to the point where thousands of offenders in the Texas state’s prison systems have served in the military to realize this issue? I think we, as Americans, are very well aware of the mental and emotional exhaustion that going to war puts on a person.

Surprisingly these specialized courts do not only serve Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, but Vietnam veterans also. So what about all the veterans who are already in prison and most likely have suffered or are suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder? Nothing, I’m sure.

Although this is a major accomplishment in the issue of punishment vs. treatment and mental health, specifically addressing post-traumatic stress disorder, what about all the other people in Texas state prisons suffering from PTSD created by an event other than war in their life. A person who had family members die in a tragic accident, while they lived? Or a person who tried to save a stranger’s life on the side of the road, but failed? Veterans are not the only people who suffer from PTSD and I believe more money should be geared to treatment rather than punishment, when poor mental health is apparent.
So the implementation of specialized courts in Dallas County is bittersweet for me. It’s a great idea, but it should have been done a long time ago. It is wonderful that Texas state government is finally acknowledging the poor mental health of veterans, but poor mental health and PTSD do not only affect veterans.