Rep. Les Gara speaks during a House Finance Committee meeting on Feb. 25. (Photo by Skip Gray/Gavel Alaska)
Posttraumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injuries could be used as a mitigating factor in the sentencing of combat veterans convicted of crimes under a bill considered Tuesday in the House Military and Veterans’ Affairs Committee.
The bill is sponsored by Rep. Les Gara, an Anchorage Democrat.
The measure would allow state judges to take PTSD and traumatic brain injuries into account as a possibility for reduced sentences.
House Bill 313 states that the condition would have to be combat-related. The burden of proving the condition would be on the offender.
If passed, Alaska would become the first state allowing PTSD and traumatic brain injuries to be taken into account as a mitigating factor.
The bill remains in committee.
http://www.360north.org/2014/03/12/bill-would-allow-consideration-of-ptsd-in-sentence/
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