saving vEtErans
Senior Counsel Section
Chair:ThomasNewcombHyde–AttorneyatLaw
“our veterans treatment court is saving lives daily.”
— Julianne holt, public defender
I
n his Second Inaugural
Address in 1865, President
Abraham Lincoln urged
our nation “to care for
him who shall have borne the
battle, and for his widow and his
orphan….” 1 This has become
the motto of the United States
Veterans Administration, 2 as well
as the theme of Justice for Vets,
an advocacy group dedicated to
the establishment of Veterans
Treatment Courts throughout
the nation. 3
In September, Hillsborough
Circuit Court Judge Michael
Scionti addressed a joint luncheon
of the Senior Counsel Section
and the Military & Veterans Affairs
Committee. Judge Scionti, himself
a decorated combat veteran
who served in both Iraq and
Afghanistan, described how the
Veterans Treatment Court was
begun in Hillsborough County in
2013 with Judge Richard Weiss,
continued under Judge Gregory
Holder, and has operated under
his direction since 2017.
The Veterans Treatment Court
is saving veterans. Its goals are to
develop treatment plans to meet
the individual needs of veterans,
to rehabilitate veterans in order to
foster their reintegration back into
society, and to promote public
safety by lowering crime rates and
reducing recidivism. 4
Veterans appearing before the
Veterans Treatment Court have
violated the law and often have
victimized others. But Judge
Scionti explained that the court
objectives are to identify mental
health and substance abuse risk
factors, implement therapeutic
measures and incentives to
encourage treatment, and develop
problem-solving skills for long-term
care and recovery.
The judge in the Veterans Treat -
ment Court is part of a team which
includes the State Attorney’s Office,
the Office of the Public Defender,
continued on page 59
Senior Counsel Chairs Thomas Hyde and Donald Smith joined several attendees from MacDill Air Force Base
and speaker Judge Michael Scionti at the luncheon in September.
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NOV - DEC 2019
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HCBA LAWYER