Friday, April 22, 2011

Free Joe Bangert from Barnstable County Jail.

Why Are We Throwing Traumatized Vets in Jail for Calling 911?

Joe Bangert is being jailed for doing exactly what he was trained to do: calling for backup when he feels threatened.
Joe, with brother John.
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MASSACHUSETTS PAROLE BOARD 
12 MERCER ROAD 
NATICK, MA 01760 
Attention: Julie Pease

Please send your letters of support to  get an early parole to MA Parole Board and also Governor Deval Patrick to Commute and or to Pardon Joe Bangert's sentence.  Joe has been sentenced for 9 months, after already serving 5 months at the Barnstable House of Corrections. 


On March 4, 2011, the Honorable J. Thomas Kirkman, addressed the defendant in Barnstable Massachusetts' Second District Court:  "Mr. Bangert, I see that you served your country honorably. It's time to do that again. I'm asking you to serve your country honorably again by (spending) nine months in the house of correction."  And the gavel came down.  
Joe's crime? Calling 911.   
Joe Bangert is being punished for doing exactly what he was trained to do: calling for backup when he feels threatened. The problem is that, since September 11, it's not always clear to him whether the threat is coming from outside or inside. His PTSD keeps him constantly on full alert, trying to keep everything and everyone out beyond what vets call the "kiss me/kill me" range.  
No question about it: Joe can be a civic nightmare. When he's upset, things get messy, rules get broken. But that should come as no surprise. We have studies going back 100 years connecting wartime experiences with traumatic injuries that lead to criminal behaviors.
For 30 years we've been experimenting with specialty courts because we know that putting someone with a mental health issue or an addiction in prison instead of treatment is not only cruel, it's much more expensive. For three years, we've been tentatively opening that model to veterans, who often fit into both categories. Since the attack on the Twin Towers, tens of thousands of veterans of previous conflicts have flooded VA facilities across the country, with PTSD by far the most common diagnosis. Ten years later, those old soldiers are being joined by younger veterans, in equally daunting numbers, who are similarly haunted by their memories and overwhelmed by the symptoms of their psychic injuries.  
They use drugs or alcohol to manage their nightmares, red-line their Harleys to feed their addiction to adrenalin, keep guns under their pillows to feel safe, and when they have flashbacks, muscle-memory takes over and they default to combat survival skills. Rages at the terrible images that colonize their minds get misdirected at innocent bystanders, often the people who love them the most—all known symptoms of PTSD, all predictive of trouble.   
Joe Bangert could serve as a poster boy for any veterans' courts. He has all of the above symptoms—except for the firearms. Those, he doesn't touch. Thirty years of treatment reports have swollen Joe's VA file to something he compares to "two metropolitan phone books"-- twice as thick as his FBI file. But he left it out in the yard and it's now swollen with rain so size comparisons are approximate. Nonetheless, the history recorded in that soggy file is one of non-violent progressive activism when Joe was successfully managing his trauma. When not, his police record is an impressive accretion of nuisance arrests that signal not criminal intent, but the self-medication he uses to mask his pain and his panic. When the pain and panic win, he needs a voice on the other end of the phone.  
And Joe is only charged with a misdemeanor. Though some judges have gone so far as to accept violent felony offenders in special veterans' courts, the vast majority are more conservative, accepting only misdemeanor or non-violent felony offenders for diversion.  
The judges who have established veterans' courts are already outside the norm. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, their Honors, in the aggregate, are more punitive when it comes to veterans. Veterans are not only disproportionately represented in the nation's prisons, but they are more likely to get longer sentences than non-veterans-- on average, more than two years longer -- for the same crime. 


Saturday, April 16, 2011

Bill S01836 By Mr. Tolman, petition (accompanied by bill, Senate, No. 1836) of Tolman for legislation relative to substance abuse services for veterans [Joint Committee on Veterans and Federal Affairs].

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Monday, April 11, 2011

Bill Summary for HD 2300

Bill Summary for HD 2300
An Act Relative to Support for Veterans

Filed in 2011 by: Rep. Carolyn Dykema


SECTION 1:  Adds a “section 10” to Chapter 276A of the General Laws

Section 10 states that any probation officers must inquire whether the defendant is a veteran or current service member, or have history of military service in the armed forces of the United States. This screening is done to enable the judge at an arraignment to consider the defendant for diversion to a program or part of disposition.

-If the defendant is eligible for diversion or treatment, a 14 day continuance by the court may be afforded, to allow time for an assessment by the US Department of Veterans Affairs, the Massachusetts department of Veterans Affairs or the department of veterans' services or another federal or state agency. This report will be used in court to assist in sentencing or diversion.

- Any recommendations from diagnosing or treating mental health professionals for the defendant for pretrial diversion or imposition of a sentence

- If the defendant accepts the offer of the 14 day continuance for such an assessment, he or she must notify the judge, who directs the defendant to an assessment program, upon which a 14 day continuance will follow.

- If the defendant is not eligible for a diversion, a 14-day continuance for assessment may be granted by the judge, taking the prosecutions' opinion into consideration.

SECTION 2:

In order for any court personnel to recognize veterans issues and to determine the appropriate treatment for veterans in court, the court personnel shall work with the department of veterans services to adopt a training program which shall prepare the personnel.
All trial court employees who interact directly with a veteran defendant must complete the training. The administrative office of the trial court and the department of veterans' services must consult with the US Department of Veterans Affairs and provide at least one of the training sessions to the court personnel at no administrative cost to the commonwealth.

SECTION 3:

The administrative office of the trial court along with the US Department of Veterans Affairs and the department of veterans’ services shall conduct a study. The purpose of the study is to examine the intake and review process and disposition of veterans who face criminal complaints in the courts.

This section includes a listing of specific information that shall be collected in a study including but not limited to:

-number of defendants who are veterans, service members, or have a history of military service, who enter the courts each year

-number who are eligible to enter treatment and diversion programs

- The number screened and assessed for the placement of those programs
-the number who successfully completed a program

-the number who do not complete the program and the reasons therefore

-the number that enter and complete a program but reoffend and enter the criminal court systems within one year of the completion

The written report of the study will serve to set forth an annual reporting requirement provided by the courts related to veterans in the criminal justices system. This report will be provided by the chief justice of administration and management to the department of veterans services, the joint committee on veterans and federal affairs and the joint committee on the judiciary by April 1, 2013. Reports shall be reported annually by the administrate office of the trial court before December 1, 2013 and each year thereafter.




DRAFT   ONLY   NOT 
A  NUMBERED  BILL  YET !

HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 2300
FILED ON: 02/18/2011

HOUSE • • • • • • • • • • • • • •  No. XXXX
The  Commonwealth of Massachusetts 

PRESENTED BY:
Carolyn C. Dykema
To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General Court assembled:
The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the passage of the accompanying bill:
An Act relative to support for veterans.
PETITION OF:


NAME:                       DISTRICT/ADDRESS:     
Jason M Lewis            31st Middlesex     
Dennis A. Rosa           4th Worcester     
Frank I Smizik            15th Norfolk     
Jennifer E. Benson     37th Middlesex     
Martin J. Walsh          13th Suffolk     
George Ross               2nd Bristol     
Kate Hogan                3rd Middlesex     
James Eldridge           Middlesex and Worcester     
Karen Spilka               Second Middlesex and Norfolk     
Denise Provost           27th Middlesex     
Gloria L. Fox              7th Suffolk     

HOUSE [Pin Slip] • • • • • • • • • • • • • • No. xxxxx

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
In the Year Two Thousand Eleven
An Act relative to support for veterans.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

    1     SECTION L Chapter 276A of the General Laws is hereby   amended by adding the following
      2     section:-
      3     Section 10.  The probation officers of a district, municipal or superior court, or their official
      4     designee, when gathering information in accordance with section 85 of chapter 276, shall, at or
      5     prior to arraignment of a defendant on a criminal complaint, make inquiry of the defendant as to
      6     whether he or she is a veteran or current servicemember of, or has a history of military service in,
      7     the armed forces of the United States. The probation officers or their official designee shall
      8     screen the defendant for the purpose of enabling the judge at arraignment to consider the
      9     eligibility of the defendant for diversion to a program, or treatment as part of disposition. 

    10           If the defendant is determined to be a veteran, or current servicemember, or has a history
    11     of military service in the armed forces of the United States and is eligible for diversion or
    12     treatment, he or she may, at arraignment, be afforded a 14-day continuance by the court for the
    13     purpose of seeking an assessment by the US Department of Veterans Affairs, the Massachusetts
    14     department of veterans , services or another state or federal agency with suitable knowledge and
    15     experience of veterans affairs to provide the court with treatment options available to the
    16     defendant, including diversion programs, if appropriate; provided, however, that if the defendant
    17     has demonstrated symptomatology suggestive of a mental illness, a written report shall be
    18     prepared by a qualified psychiatrist or clinical psychologist or physician, in consultation with
    19     said Department of Veterans Affairs or the department of veterans' services or another federal or
    20     state agency and said report shall be provided to the court to assist in sentencing or diversion.
    21     The court may consider the recommendations of any diagnosing or treating mental health
    22     professionals for the defendant for pre-trial diversion or the imposition of a sentence.

    23     If a defendant chooses to accept the offer of a continuance for the purpose of such an
    24     assessment, he or she shall so notify the judge at arraignment. Upon receipt of such notification,
    25     the judge shall grant a 14-day continuance. The judge, through the probation office or its official
    26     designee, shall direct the defendant to an assessment program and shall inform said program of
    27     such action and require that the program provide the probation department and court with its
    28     findings.

    29     The judge may, in his or her discretion, grant a defendant who is preliminarily determined not to
    30     be eligible for pre-trial diversion, a 14-day continuance for assessment. In arriving at such a
    31     decision, the opinion of the prosecution should be taken into consideration. Such a continuance
    32     may be granted upon the judge's own initiative or upon request by the defendant.
    33
    34     SECTION 2. The administrative office of the trial court shall work with the department of
    35     veterans services to adopt a training program to educate and assist court personnel, including
    36     court staff, probation officers, their designees, court officers, prosecutors, defense counsel, and
    37     judges in recognizing veterans issues and determining the appropriate treatment for veterans
    38     within the court. All trial court employees who interact directly with defendants shall be required
    39     to complete the training; and provided, further, that the administrative office of the trial court and
    40     the department of veterans' services shall, in consultation with the US Department of Veterans
    41     Affairs, provide at least one ofthe training sessions offered to court personnel at no
    42     administrative cost to the commonwealth.
    43
    44     SECTION 3. The administrative office of the trial court shall, in consultation with the US
    45     Department of Veterans Affairs and department of veterans' services, conduct a study to
    46     examine the intake and review process and disposition, including treatment and diversion
    47     options, of veterans who face criminal complaints in the courts. The study shall include specific
    48     information including, but not limited to, the number of defendants who are veterans,
    49     servicemembers or have a history of military service who enter the courts of the commonwealth
    50     each year, the number who are eligible to enter treatment and diversion programs, the number 
    51     screened and assessed for the purpose of being placed in a program, the number that successfully
    52     complete a program, the number that do not complete a program and the reason therefore, the
    53     number that are diverted to a program and obtain a dismissal of their court proceedings, and the
    54     number that enter and complete a program but reoffend and enter the criminal court system again
    55     within one year of successful completion. A written report of the study's findings shall set forth 
    56     annual reporting requirements to be provided by the courts related to veterans in the criminal
    57     justice system. Said report shall be provided by the chief justice of administration and 
    58     management to the department of veterans , services, the joint committee on veterans and federal 
    59     affairs and the joint committee on the judiciary by April I, 2013. Reporting shall be provided 
    60     annually by the administrative office of the trial court to said department and said committees on 
    61     or before December 1,2013 and each year thereafter.
    62