Two former Iraq and Afghanistan War-era defense secretaries are recommending that the government consider new ways to ensure that military service is taken into account when courts prosecute former service members.

The Veterans Justice Commission, led by onetime Pentagon chiefs Chuck Hagel and Leon Panetta, offered that guidance after reports that a concerning number of veterans have been convicted of crimes since leaving military service.

The commission was tasked with examining the extent to which veterans are getting in trouble with the law, whether they are receiving appropriate transitional assistance when they no longer are in the armed services and how they are treated once they enter the criminal justice system.

[The interventions would probably be more effective immediately after service rather than counting on leniency after criminal conduct. That is precisely what the VA should be investigating, considering their disproportionate engagements in police work and in prisons. We need to do better by combat vets to return them to normal civilian life, but that should be up front. At any rate, a very worthy effort by Hagel and Panetta. — Ed]