BILL ANALYSIS �
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Date of Hearing: April 30, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON VETERANS AFFAIRS
Al Muratsuchi, Chair
ACR 36 (Atkins) - As Introduced: March 18, 2013
SUBJECT : Veterans: treatment courts and treatment review
calendars
SUMMARY : Encourages the California Superior Courts to consider
establishing veterans treatment courts or review calendars.
Specifically, this resolution :
Makes the following legislative findings:
1)Historically, the State of California has honored the noble
sacrifices that members of the Armed Forces have made to
protect our freedoms by providing veterans and members of the
Armed Forces certain benefits and rehabilitative services;
2)California has the largest United States veteran population in
the nation, comprised of approximately 2 million armed
services veterans, which is 12.3 percent of the nationwide
veteran population of nearly 25 million veterans;
3)There are approximately 180,000 Operation Enduring Freedom/
Operation Iraqi Freedom (OEF/OIF) theatre veterans in
California and 30,000 veterans are returning to California
each year;
4)Studies have shown that combat services may exact a tremendous
psychological toll on members of the Armed Forces who are
faced with the constant threat of death or injury over an
extended period of time;
5)Researchers have shown that a significant number of the
1,600,000 members of the Armed Forces who have served in Iraq
or Afghanistan have, or will suffer from, as a result of their
military service, mental health injuries, such as
post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury,
depression, anxiety, and acute stress;
6)Some studies have shown that as much as 20 percent of the
United States veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan are
returning home with signs of post-traumatic stress disorder or
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other mental illnesses. Traumatic brain injury often
accompanies post-traumatic stress disorder;
7)Both physical and mental combat-related injuries often lead to
the use of drugs and alcohol to cope with such injuries, which
often leads to encounters with the criminal justice system
that would not have otherwise occurred without the
combat-related injury;
8)The vast majority of returning members of the Armed Forces do
not have contact with the criminal justice system, and most
veterans and members of the military are well-adjusted,
contributing members of society, but psychiatrists and law
enforcement officials agree that combat-related injuries have
led to instances of these service members becoming involved
with the criminal justice system;
9)Recently, 12 percent of OIF/OEF veterans surveyed reported
criminal justice involvement beyond a minor traffic violation.
However, only 3 percent of veterans reported having both
knowledge of and access to veterans treatment courts, veterans
treatment review calendars, or diversion programs from prison
available pursuant to Section 1170.9 of the Penal Code;
10)A goal of veterans treatment courts and veterans treatment
review calendars is to reduce further criminal behavior. This
is done to keep troubled veterans out of prison, if they have
service-related mental health problems and they allege that
the criminal behavior resulted from these problems;
11)It is the purpose of veterans treatment courts and veterans
treatment review calendars in California to enhance public
safety by providing a judicially supervised regimen of
treatment intervention to serve involved veterans with unique
mental health conditions and other problems stemming from
military service; and
12)As a grateful state, we must continue to honor the military
service of our men and women by attempting to provide them
with an alternative to incarceration when feasible, permitting
them instead to access proper treatment for mental health and
substance abuse problems resulting from military service.
13)States that the Assembly and Senate concur that the
legislature is not seeking to impart mandates that would
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stifle innovation, but instead intends to promote a framework
within which the superior court in each county has the
flexibility to develop a constructive model that works best
locally to achieve positive outcomes.
14)Declares that the legislature encourages all superior courts
to consider establishing veterans treatment courts or veterans
treatment review calendars within their jurisdictions to
assist troubled veterans who have service-related mental
health issues to turn their lives around by identifying them,
assessing their needs, connecting them with needed services,
and managing their care.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Provides that in the case of any person convicted of a
criminal offense who would otherwise be sentenced to county
jail or state prison and who alleges that he or she committed
the offense as a result of post-traumatic stress disorder
(PTSD), substance abuse, or psychological problems stemming
from service in a combat theater in the United States
military, the court shall, prior to sentencing, hold a hearing
to determine whether the defendant was a member of the
military forces of the United States who served in combat and
shall assess whether the defendant suffers from PTSD,
substance abuse, or psychological problems as a result of that
service. [Penal Code Section 1170.9(a).]
2)States that if the court concludes that a defendant convicted
of a criminal offense was a member of the military forces of
the United States suffering from PTSD, substance abuse, or
psychological problems stemming from service in a combat
theater and if the defendant is otherwise eligible for
probation and the court places the defendant on probation, the
court may order the defendant into a local; state; federal; or
private, non-profit treatment program for a period not to
exceed that which the defendant would have served in state
prison or county jail, provided the defendant agrees to
participate in the program and the court determines that an
appropriate treatment program exists. [Penal Code Section
1170.9(b).]
3)Obligates counties to provide mental health treatment services
to members of the military forces of the United States
suffering from PTSD, substance abuse, or psychological
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problems stemming from service in a combat theater only to the
extent that resources are available for that purpose. If
mental health treatment services are ordered by the court, the
county mental health agency shall coordinate appropriate
referral of the defendant to the county veterans service
officer. The county mental health agency shall not be
responsible for providing services outside its traditional
scope of services. An order shall be made referring a
defendant to a county mental health agency only if that agency
has agreed to accept responsibility for the treatment of the
defendant. [Penal Code Section 1170.9(c).]
FISCAL EFFECT : None
COMMENTS : According to the author:
California has the largest veteran population of any state
with approximately 2 million veterans and 160,000 combat
veterans from Iraq & Afghanistan and 30,000 combat veterans
expected to return every year for the foreseeable future. As
many as 20 percent of these returning veterans have shown
signs of mental illness, and many often turn to drugs and
alcohol to cope with their injuries. Veterans with service
related mental health injuries may come into contact with the
criminal justice system as they turn to petty criminal
behavior to support a drug or alcohol addiction.
Veterans Treatment Courts identify veterans who have struggled
with service related mental health injuries and connect them
to the services they need to help turn their lives around.
This resolution will memorialize the Legislature's position
that every veteran in California should have access to a
veteran treatment court.
According to the Committee on Public Safety:
Incarcerated Veterans : A study conducted by the University
of California, San Francisco and the San Francisco Veterans
Affairs Medical Center has shown that approximately one-third
of veterans returning from Iraq received one or more mental
health or psychosocial diagnoses. [See Mental Illness
Appears Common among Veterans Returning from Iraq and
Afghanistan, Science Daily (Mar. 13, 2007)
(as of Mar. 23, 2009).] Another study
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reported in the New England Journal of Medicine indicates
that the rate of PTSD among veterans of the wars in Iraq and
Afghanistan increased in a linear manner with increased
exposure to combat. [See generally, Hoge, M.D., Combat Duty
in Iraq and Afghanistan, Mental Health Problems, and Barriers
to Care (2004) 351 N. Engl. J. Med., pp. 13-22.]
Three-quarters of veterans in state prisons reported past
drug use and one-quarter reported being on drugs at the time
of the offense for which they were incarcerated. [Noonan &
Mumola, U.S. Dep't of Just., Veterans in State and Federal
Prison, 2004 (2007) p. 5.] [See also Cot�, Military vet
charged with pharmacy holdups blames drug addiction, San
Francisco Chronicle (Sep. 3, 2007) (detailing the experience
of an Bosnia veteran who reports a prescription painkiller
addiction from a broken hip while in the military, and
post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of his combat
experience, and the substandard quality of military medical
care, which he says led to his arrest for the holdups of two
pharmacies).]
Providing meaningful mental health treatment has been shown
to significantly reduce recidivism rates, with studies
showing decreases of over 20%. [Aos, Wash. State Inst. For
Pub. Pol'y, Evidence-Based Policy Options to Reduce Future
Prison Construction, Criminal Justice Costs, and Crime Rates
(2006).] Likewise, studies have shown a reduction of more
than 6% in recidivism rates where meaningful chemical
dependency services are provided to prisoners. (Id. at pp.
3, 19.) Chemical dependency treatment has also been shown to
decrease, at least in the short term, the probability of
alcohol dependency by 15% and drug dependency by 22%. (Id.
at p.4.)
AB 201 of 2011 by Assemblymember Butler would have authorized
veteran treatment courts but establishment of such courts was
expressly voluntary. AB 201 said, in pertinent part:
Penal Code section 1001.95. (a) Superior courts are hereby
authorized to develop and implement veterans courts.
Participation by a county shall be voluntary.
Governor Brown vetoed AB 201 not on grounds that veteran
treatment courts were bad policy, but because the courts and the
state have been struggling with severe fiscal austerity.
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Although establishment of veteran treatment courts was expressly
voluntary he determined the bill would create a "clear
expectation?that our courts will establish a new program?" and
that in such an austere time it would be better not to place
expectations on the courts for new programs.
This measure will memorialize legislative support for veterans
treatment courts and review calendars. It expressly encourages
but does not require any court system to establish a veteran
treatment court or review calendar.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
American Legion, Department of California
AMVETS, Department of California
California Association of County Veterans Service Officers
California State Commanders Veterans Council
VFW, Department of California
Vietnam Veterans of America, California State Council
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : John Spangler / V. A. / (916) 319-3550