Veterans Justice Commission
Front-End Advisory Committee Members
Carla Bugg
Jac Charlier
A national expert in crime reduction and pre-arrest diversion, Jac Charlier specializes in practical solutions that bring together justice system partners, behavioral health service providers, and community leaders in common aims of creating safer, healthier communities.
Jac is a leading voice and visionary in the emerging movement toward deflection and pre-arrest diversion as standard practice, whereby law enforcement officers will, whenever appropriate, deflect people with substance use disorders and mental health issues to treatment in the community rather than arrest or ignore them.
Jac’s career has been devoted to solutions that reduce crime and drug use by bridging criminal justice systems—from police to prosecutors to courts to probation to parole—with behavioral health services in the community. He is also a recognized civic leader in the Chicagoland area and brings his years of successful grassroots experience to work in developing justice solutions grounded in the context of the community.
Since 2011, Jac has led the growth and evolution of TASC’s Center for Health and Justice, which provides national and international consulting, training, public policy strategy, and research dissemination to help create more just justice systems. Under Jac’s leadership, CHJ regularly advises counties and state systems across the US, while also developing curricula and providing consultation services for countries across the globe.
Greg Hamilton
Matt Logan
Dr. Logan received his Ph.D. in Criminal Justice from the University of Cincinnati's School of Criminal Justice. Prior to working at Texas State, he served as an Assistant Professor for 5 years in the Department of Criminal Justice at California State University, San Bernardino. He also holds a Master's degree in Sociology and a Bachelor's degree in Criminology, both from the University of Western Ontario.
Jim Lorraine
Jim Lorraine, the president and CEO of America’s Warrior Partnership, served in the U.S. Air Force as a Flight Nurse with nine combat deployments and retired as the Deputy Command Surgeon for the United States Special Operations Command after 22 years of service. He became the founding director of the United States Special Operations Command Care Coalition and served as Special Assistant for Warrior and Family Support to the Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Meredith Mannebach
Meredith Mannebach is the District Court Program Administrator. Which is a really long title to say, she works with District Court Judges and clerks to improve processes within the court system especially related to technology. Although she has only been with the Judiciary a few years, she has worked the past 20 (ahem…plus) years in the executive branch (Health and Human Services) and private sector doing project management (she even taught 4th grade for a few years). She has her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the University of Utah. Most important in her life are her two boys, she’ll brag about all day long; a hubby, she’ll talk about most of the time; and a farm, she’ll invite anyone to come work.
Kathleen Meehan-Coop
Kathleen Meehan Coop is a management analyst at the Deschutes County District Attorney’s Office. She directs the development and implementation of multiple criminal justice reform initiatives for the DA, including the Deschutes County Veterans Intervention Strategy. She has a Master’s of Education and a MBA. Prior to moving to Bend, Oregon, Kathleen worked in senior management at national and international non-profits in Washington, DC in the fields of ocean sciences, space science education, and non-proliferation.
Justice Eileen Moore
Barbara Pierce
Barbara Pierce has more than 20 years’ experience in adult and youth justice and consulting at the county, state, and federal levels. Barbara leads a multi-site effort to assist states with the implementation of comprehensive criminal justice policy reforms through Justice Reinvestment, coordinates projects to improve criminal justice responses to those with mental health issues, and directs CJI’s Restrictive Housing projects to safely reduce the use of segregation in prisons and jails. Barbara’s innovative approach to both crisis response in rural areas and segregation reform has been featured at national and international conferences and in national corrections publications. Barbara is committed to improving the trajectory of criminal justice policy and practice through strong and diverse partnerships and the real-world application of research to achieve better public and institutional safety outcomes. Barbara received her Master’s degree in Public Policy and Management from the University of Southern Maine and has a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology from Providence College.
Judge Robert Russell
Judge Robert Russell is a recently retired Associate Judge for Buffalo City Court and Acting Erie County Court Judge. Presently, Russell serves on the New York State Behavioral Health Services Advisory Council. In January 2008, he created and began presiding over this Country’s first “Veterans’ Treatment Court.” Russell is the recipient of the National Vietnam Veterans of America Achievement Medal, The National Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States, James E. Dan Zandt Citizenship Award, and the 2015 AMVETS- American Veterans (National) Silver Helmet Award. Russell is also the recipient of the 2014 White House Advocates for Action Award, presented by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP).
Russell created and presided over Buffalo’s Drug Treatment Court since December 1995. His work in the treatment court field led to his induction into the National Association of Drug Court Professionals’ Hall of Fame. He is also the recipient of the New York State Association of Drug Treatment Court Professionals’ Leadership Award. In addition, in 2002, he established and presided over Buffalo’s Mental Health Treatment Court. The National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI), an advocacy organization for the mentally ill, has awarded Russell with the Nancy D. Smith Memoriam Award.
Russell is the Past Chairman of the Board of Directors of the National Association of Drug Court Professionals, Inc., and the Past President of the New York State Association of Drug Treatment Court Professionals, Inc. Previously he served on the National Advisory Board of the Judges’ Criminal Justice/Mental Health Leadership Initiative (JLI). The JLI is co-coordinated by the Council of State Governments' (CSG) and The National Gains Center. He is the recipient of several Awards of Merit from the American Bar Association, New York State Bar Association, and the Erie County Bar Association. Community Awards include the Buffalo News 2009 Outstanding Citizen Award and the Leadership Buffalo 2010 Openness to Change Award. Russell is a graduate of Howard University Law School in Washington, DC.
Ronald Self
Maureen Siedor
Maureen “Mo” Siedor directs Swords to Plowshares’ Legal Services Unit which provides assistance and legal representation to homeless and low-income San Francisco Bay Area veterans on their veterans’ benefits and military discharge upgrade cases. She originally joined Swords’ legal team in 2014. Prior to serving as Legal Director, Mo worked at the Center for Veterans’ Advancement at Public Counsel and the Homeless Veterans Project of Inner City Law Center. She began her legal careers as a staff attorney at DNA-People’s Legal Services providing legal assistance to victims of domestic violence on the Navajo Nation. She is a graduate of Boston College Law School and Barnard College of Columbia University, and is a member of the State Bars of California and Colorado.
Theresa Thompson
Theresa was born and raised in Idaho, where she graduated from Boise State University with a B.A. in Criminal Justice. Shortly after graduation, she moved to South Carolina where she began a career in Law Enforcement, with the Greenville Police Department. Theresa served the City of Greenville from 05/1997 to 11/2013.
While working as a patrol officer, she attended Clemson University, where she earned a Master of Education in Counseling and Guidance services and a National Certification in Counseling. During her tenure in Law Enforcement, she held several positions which included; Patrol Supervisor, Criminal Investigations Lieutenant, Commander of the Crisis Negotiation Team, Coordinator of the Internal Peer Support Team, District 3 representative of the SC Crisis Negotiation Association, and on occasion still serves as a member of the SC State Peer Support Team.
While commanding the Crisis Negotiation Team, Theresa and the team recognized an increase in “Justice-Involved Veterans” cases and began working with local veterans resources on early intervention strategies. She joined the Upstate Warrior Solution team, in December of 2014, as the Development Director and now serves as the Deputy Director.
Theresa has worked with the UWS team to build formal partnerships and referral pipelines with local law enforcement and county detention facilities. The UWS team now has access to five local detention centers and has active MOUs with two of the largest law enforcement agencies in the Upstate.
Theresa was appointed to the Greenville County Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse in 2021 and resides in Simpsonville, SC with her husband Howie Thompson who serves as the Greenville Police Department’s Chief of Police.
Scott Tirocchi
Scott Tirocchi, M.A., M.S., L.P.C., is a division director for Justice For Vets (JFV), a division of the National Association of Drug Court Professionals (NADCP). He served in the U.S. Army reserves and the Rhode Island Army National Guard for a combined total of 21 years. His occupational specialty was military police officer. While deployed to Afghanistan in 2003 to 2004, he served as commander for the training and doctrine component of Training Assistance Group II to the Afghan National Army. He retired at the rank of major. He is a licensed behavioral health clinician and a certified clinical trauma professional. He has an employment background rooted in treatment and criminal justice. Prior to coming on board with Justice for Vets, he was employed with the Rhode Island Judiciary, serving in a dual capacity as deputy director for their district court's pretrial services unit and program coordinator for their veterans treatment court. He has served as a behavioral health clinician in correctional and hospital settings and in various community behavioral health agencies located in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Connecticut. He has an M.A. degree in human development and an M.S. in human services.