The Politics of Worth: Understanding the Purpose(s) and Practice(s) of Veterans Treatment Courts

Friday, February 9, 2024 • 12-1pm • Husted Hall Amphitheater 106A

What can veterans treatment courts teach us about the use of law to address entrenched social and political problems? Please join Jamie Rowen, Associate Professor of Political Science and Legal Studies at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, for a discussion of veterans treatment courts in the United States.

Drawing on her forthcoming book, Dr. Rowen’s talk analyzes the emergence of veterans treatment courts in three different regions in the United States. She finds how the founding of these courts has been shaped by a foundational contradiction: the courts are predicated on the deleterious effects of military service on participants, but they also celebrate the military to establish their own legitimacy. The courts’ emphasis on military culture masks entrenched, deeply local social inequalities that produce varied challenges for the vulnerable veterans who find themselves involved in them. Dr. Rowen draws lessons from this case about inequality in the contemporary United States and the ways we use law to address it.

Presenter:

Jamie Rowen, Associate Professor of Legal Studies and Political Science and Director of the Center for Justice, Law, and Societies at the University of Massachusetts Amherst

This event is being hosted by the Justice, Law, & Inequality Working Group and sponsored by The Hindelang Criminal Justice Research Center.