By Karen Grava
Director of Media Relations
Retired Justice Barry Schaller of the Connecticut Supreme Court, author of a new book about veterans and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), will speak on campus on Wednesday, Feb. 20, at 11 a.m.
The talk will take place in the Alumni Lounge in Bartels Hall, the campus center. It is co-sponsored by the Legal Society, a student group, and the UNH Legal Studies Program.
Schaller’s newest book, “Veterans on Trial: The Coming Court Battles Over PTSD,” was released in September.
“People ask frequently whether our society is ready to address the problems arising from PTSD in our returning veterans. My response is to ask: ‘Who bears the primary responsibility?’ Schaller said. “When veterans appear in court, it is, in a real sense, too late – too late to provide them with a smooth, successful transition to civilian life. They need, and will receive, help at that point even though it is not right to take it for granted that these problems can simply be left to the courts to fix. In assessing our readiness, we cannot ignore the fact that these problems will remain with us for years – decades – to come.”
Schaller was asked to speak by the UNH Legal Studies Program, which is exploring additional ways to provide services to veterans, said Donna Decker Morris, associate professor and director of the program. “We regularly invite speakers on legal subjects of current interest,” said Morris. “PTSD is a serious problem facing many veterans, the criminal justice system and society.”
Schaller is the author of two other books, “A Vision of American Law: Judging Law, Literature, and the Stories We Tell,” published in 1997 and the winner of the 1997 Quinnipiac Law School Book Award for excellence, and “Understanding Bioethics and the Law: The Promises and Perils of the Brave New World of Biotechnology,” published in 2007.
Schaller received his B.A. degree from Yale College and his J.D. from Yale Law School. He practiced law in New Haven from 1963 to 1974.
He served on the Connecticut Board of Pardons from 1971-74 and the Connecticut Planning Committee for Criminal Administration. He was appointed to the Connecticut trial bench in 1974, appointed to the Appellate Court in 1992 and to the Supreme Court in 2007.
After retiring fom the Connecticut Supreme Court, he resumed judicial service as a judge trial referee at the Appellate Court.
Schaller is chair of the Connecticut Committee on Judicial Ethics, a charter life fellow of the Connecticut Bar Foundation, and a member of the American Law Institute. He serves as an expert on bioethics and the law as a member of the Answer Board of the Peter Jennings Project for Journalists and the Constitution at the National Constitution Center.
