Chief Judge Nanci Grant noticed a few years ago that some of the defendants before her in Oakland County Circuit Court were veterans who before their deployment had never been in trouble with the law.
About the same time, Probation Officer Marseille Allen approached Grant about starting an informal program to meet with some veterans who were having trouble meeting their probation requirements. The judge – a 1989 graduate of Wayne State University Law School who has been on the bench since 1996 – and Allen began to meet with the veterans in Grant’s chambers to try to figure out how to help.
“These probationers were not just on my docket but also came from the dockets of my colleagues,” the judge said. “More often than not, we learned that the probationer was struggling with housing, necessary paperwork to access VA benefits or they simply needed better guidance. After researching this, as well as attending seminars, I knew that something must be done to help these struggling veterans. I became focused on balancing the need to keep our communities safe while addressing why these veterans – service men and women who served their country honorably and put themselves in harm’s way on behalf of their fellow citizens – had become felony offenders.”
After a year of the informal program, Grant realized that a more formal structure would be of use. So, in 2013, she founded the Oakland County Combat Veterans Treatment Court.
“The participants are men and women who have experienced combat, conflict, or search-and-rescue or recovery while serving their country and whose lives have been detrimentally affected by their service,” Grant said. “The program changes the lives of our military veterans through intense supervision, mental health and substance abuse treatment, readjustment counseling and mentoring with military veterans who can relate to their combat experiences. The program is designed to serve as an alternative to incarceration. The Combat Veterans Treatment Court is the only program in Michigan that exclusively has veterans whose combat experiences directly led to their involvement with the criminal justice system.”
Oakland County is home to more than 70,000 veterans, according to Oakland County Veterans Services. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs supports the growing number of veterans treatment courts like the one founded by Grant. Michigan has 15 veterans courts, according to Justice for Vets. Research shows that veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder have a far higher propensity to suffer from impulsive aggression and substance-abuse issues and that veterans treatment courts have a high rate of success in preventing recidivism.
“Veterans Treatment Court allows the veteran to remain in the community,” the VA website states. “A judge regularly checks on progress, though, while the veteran is in treatment. If the veteran fails to meet the requirements of the program, the court will act. For example, if the veteran fails drug screens or does not obey court orders, the court will impose upon him or her such things as community service, fines, jail time, or re-arrest back through the legal system.”
“To be sure, the Combat Veterans Treatment Court is not an easy way out for these probationers,” Grant said. “They are required to see the judge every two weeks in addition to reporting to their probation officer, give up various fundamental rights to participate and typically have more intrusive and extensive probation terms.”
Grant worked as a trial attorney with Dickinson Wright Moon VanDusen & Freeman before being elected to the bench at age 32. Today, she loves being a judge.
“I truly appreciate being in a job where I can make a positive difference in someone’s life – whether by way of resolution of a matter or simply having a discussion with a juvenile who sits through my criminal call and realizes that now is the time to turn their life around.”
She’s made other innovations during her legal career, as well. One was starting a free series of seminars, “Removing the Mysteries of the Probate Court,” to address the stigma and fear attached to the probating of estates. Grant started the series in the 1990s and it continues today.
She majored in sociology and anthropology at the University of Michigan and in her junior year realized that she wanted to follow her father (retired Oakland County Probate Judge Barry Grant, Wayne Law class of 1960) into law.
“I chose Wayne Law because of its outstanding reputation in general and certainly in the legal community,” Grant said. “My most-valuable experience in law school was the cumulative time spent with the small group lectures. It was there that the passion that each professor had about their special area of the law was clear. Their drive and desire about the law was imparted to the students, who were encouraged to go out into the world and make a change for the better while doing diligent and thoughtful work.”
The judge has adhered to that mission throughout her career. She chairs the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission, and, as a member of the Michigan Judges Association, developed a web-based information site for the public and instituted a statewide annual education conference for members.
Grant is a member of the Michigan Judicial Institute’s Academic Advisory Committee (the teaching arm of the Michigan Supreme Court) and sits on the board of the Oakland County Coordinating Council Against Domestic Violence. She also is active with the State Bar of Michigan and the Oakland County Bar Association.
The judge has been honored many times for her work, including receiving the Wayne State University Alumni Association’s Headliner Award.
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