An encouraging story from the City of Brotherly Love: a “problem-solving” court recently established by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and headed by U.S. Army reservist Judge Patrick F. Dugan has been designed to provide counseling and alternative sentencing to Veterans who have been disproportionately involved in the criminal justice system. The idea is to meet Veterans’ problems with useful assistance rather than jail time. Though young, results have been encouraging, and we can all hope that this court continues its good work for Philadelphia’s Veterans and can inspire similar action in state and local governments across the country.
