In May 2017, New Jersey established the New Jersey Veterans Criminal Diversion Program, which provides access to counseling services, job placement, medical services and potential Veteran’s Administration benefits to veterans who find themselves in trouble with the criminal justice system.
Although the program went into effect in December, there is still a tremendous lack of awareness about it, said Thomas Roughneen, the immediate past chair of the New Jersey State Bar Association (NJSBA) Military Law and Veterans’ Affairs Section. To help remedy that problem and ensure the program is successfully implemented, on March 8 the NJSBA will host “No One Left Behind,” an educational seminar that will include an overview of the new law as well as a look at a similar, more local program that the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office has been running for many years.
The program is also available via live webcast for those who cannot attend in person.
“We have the ability to really make a difference in New Jersey,” said Roughneen, who is himself a veteran and defends vets as part of his practice. He noted that the veteran population in New Jersey and around the country is facing unprecedented pressures after multiple deployments.
While prosecutors’ offices and police departments are a front line in utilizing the diversion program, Roughneen noted that “defense lawyers need to know that this is another powerful tool in their toolkit that they should be using when they engage in pre-negotiations with prosecutors.”
“We don’t put drug addicts in jail by law; we want to give them treatment,” Roughneen said. “And we have to do at least that much for the veteran. For those who sacrifice all, we must give them at least this much consideration.”
The March 8 program runs from 1-4 p.m. at the New Jersey Law Center in New Brunswick. It will include a keynote address by Philadelphia Municipal Court Judge Patrick Dugan, who is acting judge of the Veterans Treatment Court of Philadelphia. Dugan is a former paratrooper with the elite 82nd Airborne Division who reentered the Army at age 43 after the Sept. 11 attacks. In 2004, he deployed to Mosul, Iraq, and in 2006 became a judge advocate in Bagram, Afghanistan.
The afternoon will also include panel discussions with county prosecutors, police personnel and public defenders from around the state.
Continuing legal education credits are available. For more information and to register, click here.