New docket aims to help veterans rather than punish them

“These are people who were basically pillars of the community before they went to war. They didn’t have any issues. They were top of their class,” said Fairfax County General District Chief Judge Penney S. Azcarate. “Now they are coming back, and they are having issues dealing with life.”

The numbers are bleak: The Department of Veterans Affairs reports that as many as 20 percent of the veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder and 1 in 10 has substance-abuse problems. The VA estimates there are an average of at least 18 veteran suicides every day.