By John Hoctor
June 28, 2008
A federal judge ruled Wednesday against two veterans organizations seeking injunctive relief against the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
U.S. District Judge Samuel Conti rejected the groups claims arguing his court lacked jurisdiction.
The veterans groups are asking for fast-track intervention to order expeditious development of a fair, systematic means to process veterans’ claims for treatment of life-threatening problems in light of the numbers of veterans having committed or attempted suicide, as well as those with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other emotional traumas.
Many vets returning from Iraq and Afghanistan are suffering with PTSD.
Veteran suicides have reached epidemic levels with over 120 veterans reportedly taking their own lives every week. As many as 1,000 vets under VA care are attempting suicide per month.
Calling the plaintiffs claims “misdirected” within the first paragraph of the 82-page legal decision, Conti said jurisdiction “lies with Congress, the secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs, the adjudication system within the VA, and the Federal Circuit.”
Lawyers for the plaintiffs said Conti’s decision threatens veterans’ constitutional rights and vowed to appeal the ruling.
“The decision, if upheld on appeal, would suggest that veterans have no enforceable rights in America, and the Constitution does not apply to veterans,” remarked lead plaintiffs counsel, Gordon Erspamer. “For all Americans, the implications of this decision are profoundly disturbing.”
“Our fight on behalf of our veterans will continue,” Erspamer added.
Co-counsel Sid Wolinsky said, “I know that we will not rest until victory has been achieved and the suffering of our veterans ceases.”
Judge Conti, himself a World War II veteran, acknowledged some veterans experienced “significant” wait-listing in attempts to receive timely treatment, but said he could find no “systemic violations” that compelled court intervention.
During the April hearing in San Francisco, veterans sought a court order to compel the VA to improve veterans’ treatment of mental health and health care services.
Ruling could result in continued wait-listing of emotionally traumatized veterans
Dr. Judith Broder, who founded the Soldiers Project, a free and confidential counseling service for service members and their families, expressed concern about the impact of the Conti’s ruling on PTSD-afflicted veterans.
“What I think it means is that there will be more tragic stories,” Broder said. “If there are delays, which probably are inevitable, unless the person has an advocate . . . they’ll throw up their hands and say ‘forget it.’ Even if that doesn’t mean suicide, it can mean lots of suffering.”
VA “pleased” with outcome
The VA is “pleased with the decision,” VA Washington, D.C. spokesperson Phil Budahn said, “but we’re not going to go beyond that right now.”
Paul Sullivan, executive director of Veterans for Common Sense, said he was only temporally deterred by the ruling.
“This ruling will only cause us to redouble our efforts and our pursuit of justice for our nation’s veterans,” Sullivan said. “We will not rest until our job is finished.”
Veterans United for Truth Director Bob Handy added, “Every time we feel discouraged or need to find our way, we always return to the VA’s motto, ‘To Care for Him Who Hath Borne the Battle, and His Widow and His Orphan,’ and that tells us what we need do.”
Congressional response: Allocate more $$$
Rep. Bob Filner (D-Chula Vista), who chairs the House Veterans Affairs Committee, said he believed there was enough evidence of systemic negligence.
“People think VA stands for ‘Veterans Adversary’ because they have to fight, fight, fight for benefits that should be a no-brainer,” Filner said.
The Hunger Site
June 28, 2008 at 1:18 pm
Recently Federal District Judge Samuel Conti decided in the class action lawsuit in which we (Veterans United For Truth and Veterans for Common Sense) were plaintiffs, that the Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) was failing in many cases in providing mental health services to returning veterans. Unfortunately he also decided that he did not have jurisdiction at his level to compel changes in the DVA’s procedures.
While we are disappointed with Judge Conti’s decision that he lacked jurisdiction, and do not agree that we did not prove the “systemic†nature of these problems, this outcome is far from being all bad. We knew that it was a crap shoot going in, but we were sure that he had the necessary jurisdiction. We also knew that no matter how he decided, the case would most likely end up before the Supreme Court. Of course we had hoped to be defending Judge Conti’s decision against an appeal by the DVA; now we will be appealing his decision in the Ninth Circuit.
When we started out, we knew that we were in it for the long haul. We won round one, just by getting the case heard in federal court, since the DVA and the Department of Justice both attempted multiple times to have us disqualified as plaintiffs, and denied that the federal court had any right even to examine DVA procedures and policies..
We lost part of round two. It may be a setback, but it succeeded in large part since Judge Conti’s ruling expressed agreement with much of our complaint. Additionally The DVA has been exposed not only to the Congress, but also to the national and international media, who have stepped up their reporting on the shoddy treatment that the VA has been providing to returning veterans, and to the repeated delay and denial of service by the DVA..
Americas veterans will be forever in the debt of Morrison & Foerster, LLP and Disability Rights Advocates, the two law firms that took on the DVA pro bono.
Bob Handy, HMC USN (Ret)
Chair, Veterans United For Truth. Inc
http://www.vuft.org
PO Box 4476
Santa Barbara Ca 93140
805 455 5259 cell