Staff Sgt. Nicholas Horin was a 19-year-old National Guardsman who mobilized for the sober duties at Ground Zero after Sept. 11, 2001. In 2003, he performed hundreds of convoy missions in Iraq and experienced the ravages of war for over a year. Both experiences gravely impacted him. He returned from war and although he succeeded as a full-time recruiter, he was unraveling. His wife feared him and left with their child. He became a heroin addict to cope and the government charged him with fraud for misuse of property. Finally, he sought help and spent over a year in Army in-patient rehabilitation at Army hospitals. The prosecutor diverted his criminal charges through pre-trial intervention but the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) was not involved.
The domestic issues faced by Horin and his wife could have been avoided with early intervention by police and VA counseling. Heroin addiction followed. Forty states and Guam have already been ensuring that veterans are considered for rehabilitation before proceeding to unnecessary criminal charges and harmful and inappropriate convictions. For far too long, military commanders and prosecutors have been inclined to aggressively prosecute our combat heroes without properly considering the deleterious effects of military service and combat-related mental health issues. The VA staunchly supports and funds such programs in other states.
Implementing a statewide system is critical because today’s lawyers and prosecutors usually have no familiarity with unique military and veterans’ issues. On March 13, 2017, the state Senate voted on a proposal to require prosecutors and courts to consider military service before proceeding on some veterans’ charges. Sen. Jeff Van Drew and Assemblyman Robert Andrzejczak (both D-1st) deserve great credit for introducing this concept into the legislature. The problem is that so much more can be done with one very minor change.
Some veterans will still go to prison. However, most veterans charged with crimes are not criminals. Instead, they are patriots who went to war and suffered scars that require medical attention. It is my understanding that in America, it is a staggering reality that roughly ten percent of those in our prisons are veterans. The current proposal is New Jersey’s version of a life-saving concept sweeping the country since 2008 to ensure that veterans get treatment and not a conviction if that is an appropriate outcome. Not surprisingly, veterans who graduate from these diversion programs avoid future involvement with the law while two-thirds of other convicts find themselves with criminal charges soon after release.
Without linking Horin to the VA, he relapsed, had domestic issues with his girlfriend and is back in VA in-patient treatment. Horin’s case proves why a Veterans Diversion program is necessary. PTI was inadequate. But Horin would be ineligible to apply under the current Veterans Diversion legislation even though he was acceptable for PTI. The proposal for Veterans Diversion restricts applicants and should apply the same eligibility criteria that benefit the “average Joe” and is used for PTI. PTI was inadequate for Horin because the benefits of the VA’s numerous and federally-funded rehabilitation programs were not a requirement. The VA wants to help veterans. Horin and those like him and their families deserve consideration to benefit through the Veterans Diversion program. Don’t bar them at the door.
Joe Griffies is a Vietnam veteran and Thomas Roughneen is a lawyer and Iraq war combat veteran. The views of this piece are not necessarily those of the state Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, the United States Army, or Department of Defense.
Sea Isle City – Why are we paying two construction officials hundreds of thousands of salaries and they can’t even have buildings that are destroyed by a fire demolished in a timely manner. It’s been 7 months. We…
