We should judge these matters from the viewpoint of the victims. The victims don't care what the excuses are.

Great post, nurse4u.

JAW29, are you saying that whenever Johnson stated his "innocence" by way of a public statement or public record, the Gazette deliberately chose to ignore Johnson's claim of innocence? Why would the Gazette do that?

He plead "no contest." No contest is a mercy plea allowed by the legal system when the defendant presents him or herself as conciliatory, which is what Johnson did by his willingness to be a test case for veterans court. He could have plead "not guilty" but he didn't.

SarahB1~I agree. Children that are exposed to incest and abuse gravitate towards gangs because they are searching for a sense of belonging.

I grew up in inner city Chicago. I was in foster care from 10-14 years of age. I lived in a war zone. I saw things and experienced things that no child should have to live through. I was not offered or ordered to attend counseling. I was returned to my mother without her issues being professionally addressed. I went from a straight A student to a High School drop out. Yes, I got involved in the gang lifestyle. I was almost murdered at 18 as I was carjacked from a rival gang and beat in the head with the anti~theft device "The Club." I left Illinois and came to Wisconsin with a boyfriend. I became a single mother with an abusive ex. I climbed from the bottom rung to the top of the ladder with many hurdles in my way. I still do not know how I achieved what I did.

Most children of the inner city can NOT escape. They are stuck in a no win situation. On one hand is poverty, no food, clothes, or money for extracurricular activities. On the next, you can make money by being involved in illegal activities. Most children are impressionable. They will go whatever way is easier to escape.

I know what I lived through, been through. Children of the inner city need counseling and extracurricular activities. They need programs like Big Brother/ Big Sister. Please remember this the next time you have a vote to decide if this teacher should be let go or that activity cut. It can have long term consequences.

I shudder to think what lives could have been altered if a teenager was offered deferred prosecution instead of that criminal charge.

I know what your saying about all the veterans images being ruined by a select few. However all the facts in this case aren't told. And for myself i did serve in the military and have been to the middle east. I dont agree with you though that war doesn't change a person and how they act with others, while im not agreeing that it gives them an excuse to beat up on other people for no apparent reason. But that isn't the case in this situation, like I stated earlier, everyone who read this article read that this person beat his gf, which isn't true. But because its posted in the Gazette is must of happened, and as for the latest call to his place... no charges were filed or anything, so obviously it wasn't anything of concern for those who weren't involved.

JAW29, crucial to my posts below is that almost 100% of all war veterans resent that the image of war veterans is damaged by the behavior of a just a few. War veteran status does not cause war veterans to go around harming other people.

If you aren't a war veteran, would you want to be judged by the bad behavior of other people who aren't war veterans?

It's nice that the program in the above story is there to help the few veterans who mistreat other people; but a direct cause between the combat experience and harming people back home doesn't exist. I regret that the existence of that program is harmful to the image of combat veterans in general.

Im all for this, I know a lot of vets that are coming back right now with their heads not in the right places all the time. and as for people criticizing on Johnson and just try looking up his past, you probably don't know a whole lot about him, or what actually happened that night. Like what was stated earlier, some can unwind and some cant. Those who can, hey good on you thank you for your service and everything you did. I would also like think that some of those who were able to unwind in our own communities would think of being a mentor for those who it isnt so easy for.

I agree, armywife89.

And here is a quote from the story:
--
[Kevin] Kavanaugh, a Vietnam veteran, pointed out that veterans were trained by the military to be aggressive.

"Once you go to Vietnam or Iraq and you come back we say thank you for your service and send you home. Well guess what? You're still wound tighter than a spring. Some can unwind the spring and some can't," Kavanaugh said.

"This is not anything new. This was all going on in Vietnam, but nobody did anything about it. They just locked them away. Now people are saying maybe we should treat them differently."
---

Kavanaugh is full of crap. I am so sick of people, no matter their status or position, who characterize Vietnam veterans this way. I was a combatant who saw heavy combat in Vietnam, I was wounded twice. I, and almost a hundred percent of veterans with similar experience do not commit bad behavior or commit crimes. Kavanaugh's mention of "some can't unwind" is more accurately a reference to a personality problem and not a mental disorder that excuses bad behavior.

See my previous post below.

Clearly from viewing Mr. Johnson's record we can all see this may be more than just a veteran suffering from PTSD. Mr. Johnson has an extensive record of disturbing the peace and disordly conducts from his days, I believe it is safe to say they seemed to have picked the wrong trial case. It seems many over looked that once again Mr. Johnson had the police called to his house after this incident, yet it was not said as to why. Do not get me wrong I am all for helping the veterans out who have helped serve our country but some things these military men and women do are simlpy dealt with a little slap on the wrist. Whats next?

It is true that special care should be taken with children who suffer from PTSD.

nurse4u: Thank you, thank you for your wise comment. I, too, have felt as you do about this issue and always wondered why most of the public refuses to see it in a similar light. One must also add the children who grow up in homes where long-term incest and/or other abuse takes place.

I agree with the previous poster 100%.

I respect Judge Daley. But it is a big mistake to attribute certain kinds of criminal behavior solely to military experience, even combat experience.

The fact that only a sliver of one-percent of such veterans commit crimes is proof that military service is not the cause for anti-social behavior -this includes Vietnam veterans (a distorted view of Vietnam veterans comes from the Hard Left, the psychiatric industry, and certain books, movies and TV programs -and a few veterans who want a free pass for their bad behavior). A good study would probably show that there is no significant difference for bad behavior between military veterans and people who are not veterans. The cause is more properly attributed to character, including pre-military character. Each individual must take responsibility for his or her character, flaws and all, no one else can.

We should be leery of any thinking or program that informs veterans that they have an excuse for bad behavior, including criminal behavior. Such thinking and such programs can actually cause or contribute to bad behavior.

True PTSD is a self-punishing phenomenon. That's why it is overwhelmingly associated with Depression. Flashbacks are extremely rare to the point of being almost non-existent. The PTSD symptom of "thought intrusion" is commonly confused with the "flashbacks." Thought intrusion is a very mild symptom. As a matter of fact, we all have thought intrusion. But the mental phenomenon of "thought intrusion" has been pathologized into a symptom of mental disorder by the psychiatric industry.

I personally resent the causes for the distorted view that the American public has of war veterans, or any kind of military veteran. If it were true that military experience, including combat experience, were causative for anti-social behavior of any kind, there would thousands of stories re: such behavior in the media everyday.

While I do applaud that this veteran is given the chance to have his charges deferred by completing counseling, part of me thinks this needs to go one step further.

A child growing up in the inner city (like I did on the southside of Chicago)is confronted every day with violence. In a sense, it is a war zone, with children involved. These youth deal with situations such as gun violence, batteries, gangs, domestic violence, addictions, etc. If these exposed children grow up and become involved in an altercation, they are not offered deferred prosecution. Instead, they have a criminal record that follows them. It may impact their ability to find a job or housing. These individuals are prosecuted as adults at 17.

In both situations, you have individuals that deal with violence. With gangs, the involved are children, not adults. Some of these individuals know no other life. They too, can develop PTSD, just as our troops do overseas, except this war zone takes place in our back yards.

Just my opinion.

The whole issue of war and the effects on those who have to fight them is sharply in focus these days. Now that "change we can count on" turned into "more of the same" we can count on, with the recent decision on Afghanistan, people need to speak up.

With military experts saying there are less than 100 hard core El Quida left in Afghanistan, can't we just throw up the "mission accomplished banner" and bring everyone home? Sending an additional 30,000 troops, to get 100 bad guys, seems somewhat out of line. We have to stop killing, maiming and permanently scarring our own people, for causes that are less than essential.
The best way to eliminate the need for “veteran’s courts” is to more wisely choose our battles.

*Maybe I am crazy, but is this whole situation of stressed out combat veterans a caveat to future political hacks that might send us all to war willy-nilly in the future?*

People have come back and acted like this after every war. The only solution is to never fight a war, which would of course result in the country being enslaved in the long run and everyone ending up with permanent traumatic stress disorders.

Maybe I am crazy, but is this whole situation of stressed out combat veterans a caveat to future political hacks that might send us all to war willy-nilly in the future?

Naaa! I am just imagining a connection.

Bob Keith
- humble and obedient citizen -
- cold war Viet Nam era veteran -
- Iraq journalist -

momof5, this is a new concept -- the one in Buffalo was the first and only began last year. There are many more starting up around the country.
.
I have to say that "no underlying problems to treat through the VA or the reason the veteran committed a crime has nothing to do with combat experience" are some pretty vague criteria.

UR stupid,can't you read what it doesn't cover?? I really believe in second chances,this is a great idea,and kinda a way to give back to us.

When Judge Daley retires, Rock County and the state of Wisconsin will have lost a tremendous asset!! What a great story!

How many other "Veteran's Courts" are there in the U.S.??

Thank you for your service!

What happens when a veteran decides to shoot out his second story window at random objects?