With 140,000 Veterans in Prison, We Can Do Better

This Veterans' Day is a chance to honor the hundreds of thousands of military veterans among us, including those serving today at home and overseas.

It should also serve as a day to remember the 140,000 veterans in American state and federal prisons. Many of them served our country at wartime, and many shouldn't be behind bars.

A new report from the Drug Policy Alliance makes a strong case for an expansion of veteran services in this country, recommending that we focus more on treatment and services for those suffering from afflictions like Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Traumatic Brain Injury and urging an expansion of substance abuse treatment for people who have served in the military.

There's a high rate of substance abuse among veterans, and another connection between substance abuse and prison, unfortunately this connection is all too strong thanks to our war on drugs. We need alternative solutions to avoid locking up the men and women who serve our country.

The causes that contribute to our high rate of veteran incarceration are similar to those that have left so many veterans homeless. As Mark Horvath writes eloquently on the End Homelessness blog today:

These are men and women who were willing to wear the uniform, willing to put themselves in harm's way. It must be tough to come to the realization that their country - the people and ideals that they fought for - are not half as eager to heal their pain, to have their backs. Seems there is just too much hurt and not enough money.

The statistics in the DPA report make it clear that something is missing in our veteran services. More than 40 percent of veterans in federal prison (and 15 percent of those in state prisons) are there for drug violations. More than 60 percent of veterans in prison can be classified as having a substance abuse problem. A quarter of veterans in prison were intoxicated at the time of their arrest.

There are obvious and immediate gaps to address. One of the most prominent is that most veterans don't qualify for substance abuse treatment benefits through the VA unless they have PTSD. Substance abuse treatment should be available to all veterans, without barriers, hurdles or paperwork. It's much better to treat an addiction than to lock someone up or put them in prison.

I wrote recently about veterans' courts being used in New York, Illinois and Nevada. These courts can treat veterans with the respect and attention they deserve, helping defendants navigate the complicated bureaucracy between the VA, police, court, treatment and prison. The initiative has drawn some fire from veterans and civil liberties advocates, saying these courts can unfairly single out veterans. I think they're an appropriate response, and any time our courts can specialize and slow down the conveyor belt, we're doing defendants a service.

Take a look at the DPA report and please remember today that all veterans deserve our respect and support, even those that find themselves behind bars.

Photo via NYCMarines