Man Robs Bank to Get Healthcare in Prison

The criminal justice system has long been a primary care provider for the mentally ill. A new case from North Carolina suggests that jails may become primary health care providers for people with other medical problems as well.

James Richard Verone tried to rob a bank in Gastonia, North Carolina so that he could get foot and back surgery and a diagnosis for a protrusion from his chest.

He took a cab down New Hope Road and picked a bank at random — RBC Bank.

Verone didn’t want to scare anyone. He executed the robbery the most passive way he knew how.

He handed the teller a note demanding one dollar, and medical attention.

“I didn’t have any fears,” said Verone. “I told the teller that I would sit over here and wait for police.”

Unfortunately, Orin Kerr, a writer at the Volokh Conspiracy, isn’t sure that Verone committed a crime.

Theft requires intent to permanently deprive another of property. But it’s not clear that Verone had any intent to permanently deprive the bank of its money. If I understand the facts, he just wanted to do what was necessary to be arrested, without any actual intent to deprive others of their stuff (thus the $1 request). Verone wants people to know why he committed his act, so they know he’s not a bad guy. But I think his reason shows that he lacked the intent that the crime requires; if I’m right about that, Verone is actually not guilty of the crime charged.

Hopefully, Verone won’t have to rob another bank to get his surgeries.

In 2000, the last year for which nation-wide data is available, over 100,000 prisoners were receiving psychotropic medications and over 17,000 prisoners had to be under 24-hour mental health care. Our country’s jails and prisons are taking a bigger and bigger share of the mental and physical healthcare burden.

Criminalize Everything?

The New York Times reports today on a number of cases challenging the expanding scope of federal criminal laws. Groups on the political left, like the ACLU, are arguing against vague laws that infringe on individual liberty and they are joined by some of their old enemies from the political right who believe that federal criminal law is too pervasive.

One book cited by the NY Times article argues that "federal criminal law is so comprehensive and vague that all Americans violate it every day, meaning prosecutors can indict anyone at all."

Former federal judge and University of Utah professor Paul Cassell is quoted as saying that federal law allows the government to confiscate an entire yacht if a single joint of marijuana is found on it.

State law can be as pervasive and invasive of liberty as federal criminal law. For example, I prosecuted traffic offenses as a prosecutor for Salt Lake City along with a dozen or so other City prosecutors. I had discussions with them about how difficult it is to follow every requirement of the traffic code. One experienced prosecutor said that, as an experiment, she, a lawyer with extensive knowledge of the traffic code, had tried to drive without violating any of the traffic laws, but was completely unsuccessful.

The penalties for violating Utah's traffic laws do not compare to federal prison time. But a police officer can stop a car that violates the traffic code to investigate the traffic offense. Being detained by a police officer is a major intrusion into our personal liberty. Police frequently stop cars for such minor offenses as operating a vehicle without a functioning tail light, and then find a reason to search the vehicle.

The United States Constitution protects our right to be free from "unreasonable searches and seizures." But when every driver can be stopped by the police and eventually searched, are we really secure in our "persons, houses, papers, and effects?" The federal and the Utah legislatures should reconsider the trend toward criminalizing everything.