Kapner testimony: Veterans Court limitations and exclusion criteria

Veterans Court, I think someone else spoke about it before, there are peer mentors that come from the VA that even if you're not eligible for VA services per se, the mentoring program, they're there.

They'll call you and they'll check in with you.

You can call them.

They'll be there in court to greet you, because it can be, as you can imagine, very stressful to be in court and have your life talked about in front of an audience.

Not the best parts of your life.

So the mentors are there.

They're very supportive.

You can reach out to them.

They will check in with you.

And it's almost always the same group.

They have, the VA has veteran justice outreach coordinators that can help coordinate care both during the programming and after care.

While they focus on people who are eligible for VA services, they also help coordinate things that are sort of beyond our pay grade, mostly post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury, which is something that most legal practitioners

don't know that much about.

So they can be very informative as that.

Also, I'll make this the last point.

As part of their military training, veterans are used to dealing with a highly structured environment, and that gives them

a much higher chance of graduating the program because the programs are structured.

And that's something, by benefit of having been a veteran, that they can get the most out of.

I really believe in Veterans Court.

I think it needs to be funded.

One of my, the complaint I'll leave you with is that the spots are limited.

And it's not limited by desire on my part, the DA's part, or the court's part.

It's the programming.

These programmings have just so many beds, and they're in high demand.

The people who get involved with Veterans Court are people who would otherwise go to jail.

So people who are with criminal justice involved but not really facing jail time really don't get the opportunity to participate in veterans court.

So there's not a misdemeanor veterans court.

I wish there was.

Also, as you may be aware, people who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, the crimes that they become involved with,

often have a violent component.

They possess firearms.

They are involved in domestic violence, often while drunk or on drugs.

They fight with police officers when being arrested on minor things.

And many of these things can exclude them from Veterans Court by the nature of the charge.

In Manhattan, Judge Mershon

And the DA's office understands that to a point.

So they will consider people who have committed crimes that might otherwise disqualify them, but it's a heavy lift.

But I compliment them because they will hear me on that.

So I wish that the program was expanded.

Not just in its bandwidth, but the number of spots available.

And I'd be happy to answer any questions that you may have.