Justices Hear Case Regarding Denial of Assistance for Veterans PTSD

Washington, DCUS Supreme Court Justice Stephen G. Breyer recently wondered if Congress actually intended to deny assistance to post traumatic stress disorder veterans who missed deadlines for filing for help as a result of their disabilities, The New York Times reports.

"You have someone who served his country and was wounded and has post-traumatic stress syndrome or schizophrenia," Justice Breyer said at a Supreme Court argument recently. "Who in Congress would have likely thought such a thing?"

Last year, however, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled that Congress had meant to deny help to David L. Henderson, who had served on the front lines of the Korean War but was discharged after being diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.

Henderson's lawyers said that the disability was the reason their client missed the deadline, according to the news provider.

In a 2007 Supreme Court ruling, deadlines for filing the appeals for assistance were found to be "jurisdictional," meaning exceptions and excuses were not accepted, the news source said. In the recent argument, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg called the 2007 decision "a substantial hurdle to contend with."

According to the National Veterans Foundation, post traumatic stress disorder is "an anxiety condition that can develop after exposure to one or more traumatic events that threaten or cause great physical harm."