Retired Kansas Chief Justice Lawton Nuss appointed to Veterans Justice Commission

Since his retirement as Chief Justice of the Kansas Supreme Court in 2019, Lawton Nuss, a Salina native, has continued to use his position and knowledge of law to help a group he's a part of that makes up around 7% of the adult population of this country, military veterans.

The latest way Nuss is serving veterans is with his appointment to an advisory committee to the national Veterans Justice Commission, which was created by the Council on Criminal Justice, a national, nonpartisan thinktank.

"This commission is going to look at the unique challenges that veterans that are in the civilian justice system," Nuss said.

Nuss said the goal of the commission, which is chaired by Chuck Hagel, former Secretary of Defense and former U.S. Senator from Nebraska, will be to develop evidence-based solutions to reduce veterans' involvement and placement in that system.

Part of the transition advisory committee

He said there are three committees looking at different areas of this issue, with Nuss taking part in the committee focusing on the transition from active-duty service to civilian life.

"I especially like the focus of this...committee because of...the expression, 'there comes a time when you should stop just pulling people out of the river and go upstream and find out why they're falling into the river,'" Nuss said.

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Nuss said that's what this transition advisory committee is designed to do, looking back at why so many veterans are in the civilian criminal justice system in the first place.

"(Clearly) something happens once they've left military life and they're trying to transition to civilian life," Nuss said.

According to Nuss, it's important to look at this topic because of how much veterans are represented in the civilian justice system.

Nuss said studies show that one-third of all veterans self report that they've been arrested and booked into jail at least once compared to one-fifth of civilians reporting the same.

"In the last comprehensive count, there were 181,000 veterans in U.S. prisons and U.S. jails," Nuss said. "That (means) 8% of all state prison inmates are veterans and 5% of all federal prison inmates are veterans."

An understanding of what transitioning out of active duty service looks like

For Nuss, looking at this transition time for veterans is something he relates to very well.

When he was formally honorably discharged from active duty service from the United States Marine Corps in January 1979, he said his company commander called him into his office, shook his hand, thanked him for his service and handed him his DD Form 214.

"Then he said, 'here's the address of the nearest Marine Corps Reserve unit to your home in the event you get called back to active duty,'" Nuss said. "That was the extant of the transition that I was given from the Marine Corps to civilian life."

While Nuss had understanding of what his civilian life would look like, he said this is not the case for every veteran transitioning back to civilian life.

"I was fortunate that when I got out, I was not married, I wanted to go to law school," Nuss said. "I had a path already laid out for me, so I didn't have to worry about a lot of things that apparently today's veterans do."

He said statistics in the past few years show percentages of veterans face struggles as soon as they leave active duty service.

"There was a survey done...in which 45% of all veterans (said they) felt that they were inadequately prepared for civilian life," Nuss said.

Additionally, Nuss said the survey revealed that 61% of veterans found it difficult to pay bills, 41% were challenged with alcohol and/or drug misuse and 42% said they had trouble obtaining medical care for themselves or their family.

"Some of them...are suffering from substance abuse disorders, some of them have PTSD, some of them are suffering from traumatic brain injuries, some...suffer from military sexual trauma, depression, etc. etc.," Nuss said. "A lot of times these disorders go undiagnosed in the military."

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He said the committee will be looking at and asking questions about whether there aren't enough programs available to veterans transitioning, whether veterans aren't taking advantage of the programs that are available because they don't know about them or perhaps whether the programs aren't adequate.

"One of the things that this transition advisory committee...is going to look at is why we have so many veterans that feel like they were not well prepared for civilian life," Nuss said. "The military is very structured. You're told what to do, when to do it and...the standards that (are expected) to be followed. You work together as a team and you have a purpose."

A lack of some of this structure when veterans leave the military can lead to a difficult transition experience.

"That structure is gone and it's up to you to try and find one on your own or create one on your own, and that's where a lot of our veterans struggle," Nuss said.

What's next for the advisory committee?

The committee that Nuss is serving on is meeting about every three weeks this year, with the last meeting coming in October.

"A report will be done after that," Nuss said.

Nuss said the transition committee which he is taking part in, and the two other advisory committees within the commission, one looking at veterans within the criminal justice system, from the time of their arrest to the time of their release and a third committee which is looking at veterans re-entering into society after their criminal sentences are complete.

"When all three advisory committees are (finished), the commission's report will come some time, probably around 2024 would be my guess," Nuss said.

After the report is complete, Nuss said he hopes it will be valuable information that can used to help veterans.

He gave a quote by an unnamed, prominent member of the commission who essentially said they weren't interested in devoting important time and resources in creating a report that's just going to sit on a shelf, unread.

"That's exactly the way I feel," Nuss said. "I'm going to give this my best efforts and do everything I can to have a quality product. Once it's done, I want to be able to champion its cause. If I need to go to Congress and talk with senators and congressional members I'll be happy to do that. If (they) want me to testify I'll be happy to do that."

Nuss said his dedication and passion for this project, and others that assist his fellow veterans, is one of the most important things he can do.

"We have a lot problems plaguing too many of our veterans and (whatever) we can do to help them out, I'm in support of that," Nuss said. "Keeping them out of...the criminal justice system is a huge help to that."

This article originally appeared on Salina Journal: Salina native Chief Justice Nuss champions support of fellow veterans