BATON ROUGE, La. – The 19th Judicial Court is taking a different approach to prosecuting veterans, and it hopes it will help many of them get out of prison who shouldn’t be there.
There are a few other veterans treatment courts in Louisiana, but none in Baton Rouge or our neighboring parishes.
Some veterans do combat duty to serve our country, only to return to the United States with disabilities, mental health problems, or even addictions that can lead to crime. evil.
The 19th Judicial District Court is setting up a special court that will look into those.
“This gives them an alternative direction primarily because of what they have endured and gone through while serving this country,” said Ronald Johnson, 19th JDC Judge.
Unlike other special courts that deal with drug abuse or alcoholism in general, this court is specifically for veterans.
Typically, veterans will go through the same criminal trial as many of our citizens do in this community, but often mental health and substance abuse troubles are often overlooked. look the way they should,” Julie Udoessien, National Defense Council told the EBR Office of the Public Defender.
The veterans specialist treatment court is still in the pilot phase, so they are still in the process of determining which charges will be admissible and which will not.
They are hoping to have everything squared and available early next year.
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