Judge Spends The Night In Jail To Help Veteran With PTSD

This compassionate veteran wins our Judge of the Day title.

gavel with American flagI thought about a story that I once read. It talked about a soldier with PTSD in a hole. A family member, a therapist, and a friend all throw down a rope to help the veteran suffering. Finally, a fellow veteran climbs into the hole with him. The soldier suffering with PTSD asks, ‘Why are you down here?’ The fellow veteran replied, ‘I am here to climb out with you.’

After serving in the Gulf War and seeing many suffer from injuries in service, I thought about that story when Joe [Serna] walked in[to my courtroom] shaking. I do know that many veterans would have done the same. They would have gotten in the hole to help. And so did I.

— Judge Lou Olivera of the Cumberland County Veterans Treatment Court in North Carolina, recounting the reason why he chose to serve a night in a jail cell with Joe Serna, a veteran who’d done three tours of duty in Afghanistan and recently violated the terms of his probation for a DWI conviction.

Serna had this to say after spending a night in jail with Judge Olivera: “I cannot even put into words how I feel about him. I look at him as a father. I’ve seen a lot of things, and this by far is the most compassionate thing I’ve ever seen anyone give to anybody. I will never let him down again.”


Staci Zaretsky is an editor at Above the Law. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments. Follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.

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