Defendants Fresh From War Find Service Counts in Court - NYTimes.com

I appreciate the service of our men and women in uniform, but how does this man's service excuse his crimes? Why is his care of wounded soldiers and civilians relevant when he smuggles cigarettes into prison? If I was a civilian firefighter or paramedic, nurse or doctor, shouldn't I get similar consideration?

Judge Kane faced a similar choice when he opted for the sentence of probation for John Brownfield Jr., a former Air Force firefighter from Cañon City, Colo., who admitted accepting a bribe for smuggling tobacco into a prison while working as a corrections officer. In a 30-page sentencing memorandum, the judge cited Mr. Brownfield’s experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan, which included dealing with gravely wounded soldiers and civilians, and wrote that with so many members of the military returning with serious mental health issues, “we are now, in a manner of speaking, charting unknown waters.”

[From Defendants Fresh From War Find Service Counts in Court - NYTimes.com]