America honors the uniform in public.
But in court, the uniform does not always bring mercy.
The Bureau of Justice Statistics reported that male veterans in state prison had an average sentence length of about 22 years, compared with about 15 years for male non-veterans. Veterans in state prison were also almost twice as likely to be serving life or death sentences.
Think about that.
A person can serve the country, come home damaged, enter the criminal justice system, and end up serving a longer sentence than someone who never wore the uniform.
That does not mean veterans should be above the law. They should not be.
But military service, combat exposure, PTSD, traumatic brain injury, moral injury, and post-service collapse should not vanish at the courthouse door.
If those facts matter when America gives speeches, hands out medals, and says “thank you for your service,” they should also matter when judges decide how many years of a person’s life to take away.
Key stat: Male veterans in state prison averaged about 22 years, compared with about 15 years for male non-veterans.
Source note: Bureau of Justice Statistics, “Veterans in Prison: Survey of Prison Inmates, 2016.”
