Page 11 - Ohio Vol 4 No 7

rward:
ment Courts Across Ohio
Around Project, a management tool that or- ganized the di erent resources available to justice-involved veterans. By 2012, Ohio had added ve Veterans Treatment Courts. Today, there are 19 certi ed treatment courts serv- ing the needs of justice-involved veterans in 14 counties, with three more courts in the process of certi cation. And judges without a certi ed treatment court are nding alter- native pathways to access specialized treat- ment for justice-involved veterans. But there is more to do.
If you spend time talking with Ohio judges about the complex treatment issues justice- involved veterans bring into the criminal justice system, you quickly realize that not all judges have the same breadth of knowledge about those issues or the specialized treat- ment options available. What all Ohio judges do have, however, is a commitment to justice; we can meet that commitment and best serve our communities by—when appropriate— including in sentencing provisions access to specialized treatment honed for justice-in- volved veterans.
On August 30, 2018, 37 Ohio judges at- tended the “Lean Forward—Advancing Vet- erans Treatment Courts” conference spon- sored by the Ohio State Bar Association and its Military and Veterans A airs Committee, in partnership with the American Legion and AMVETS, two veterans service organiza- tions. Judges learned how to more accurately identify justice-involved veterans, develop a certi ed treatment court, partner with neigh- boring certi ed treatment courts by way of a memorandum of understanding, and infuse treatment court concepts into a regular dock- et. Armed with that knowledge, Ohio judges will be able to make an informed decision on how best to serve justice-involved veterans
who appear before them. Make no mistake: treating justice-involved veterans is not about whether they will be held accountable. ey will be. But when sentencing involves com- munity-control sanctions, courts should of- fer the best specialized treatment available to mitigate the trauma of war.
Helping a veteran does not start and stop at the courthouse door. Law rms and private practitioners can also help current or former service members by providing pro bono legal services through Operation Legal Help Ohio or by becoming certi ed to handle appeals of the denial of VA bene ts or less-than-honor- able discharges. In addition, veterans can be- come peer mentors.
We all long for the day when the men and women of our armed services are not put into harm’s way or sent around the globe to un- dertake the herculean e ort to do that which they are called to do—anything necessary to stop an aggressor or foe. But until that day, we should all “lean forward” into the chal- lenges the invisible injuries of war present to our veterans, develop strategies to connect those veterans to treatment, and take action in order to ensure that those who have served our country not just return home, but return wholly home.
JUSTICE SHARON L. KENNEDY SERVES AS THE 154TH JUSTICE OF THE SUPREME COURT OF OHIO AND THE NINTH FEMALE JUSTICE TO SERVE ON THE COURT. JUSTICE KENNEDY HAS BEEN THE RECIPIENT OF MULTIPLE AWARDS, INCLUDING THE NATIONAL SO- CIETY OF THE SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION SILVER GOOD CITIZENSHIP MEDAL, LEADERSHIP OHIO’S 2016 COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP AWARD, AND THE UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI COLLEGE OF LAW’S 2014 NICHOLAS LONGWORTH, III ALUMNI ACHIEVEMENT AWARD. SHE WAS NAMED ONE OF 13 PROFESSIONAL WOMEN TO WATCH BY THE CINCIN- NATI ENQUIRER IN 2013 AND WAS AWARDED JUDGE OF THE YEAR IN 2006.
We all long for the day when the men and women of our armed services are not put into harm’s way...”
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