Luigi Mangione is facing a second-degree murder charge in New York City in connection with the fatal sidewalk shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
ANTHONY GRASSO, agrasso@camden.rutgers.edu
Grasso is author of the just-released book Dual Justice: America’s Divergent Approaches to Street and Corporate Crime (University of Chicago Press, 2024).
An article in Corporate Crime Reporter on his work — “Anthony Grasso on America’s Divergent Approaches to Corporate Crime and Street Crime” — was published on Dec. 3, the day before the shooting.
Grasso said today: “The grim public reaction (the dark online jokes, etc.) is obviously indicative of the festering anger people have towards the health insurance system. But it also suggests that there is a growing awareness of the fact that in America, we conceptualize crime and violence differently depending on who commits it and how. We often view street violence as a moral failing deserving punishment; in the corporate world, we often view decisions that cause harm as unfortunate but necessary byproducts of business. But the public’s shocking reaction to Thompson’s shooting suggests that people are interpreting the ruthless tactics of private health insurers as forms of violence akin to street violence, which sharply cuts against how we typically view business malfeasance in the U.S.”
In his interview with Corporate Crime Reporter, Grasso, who is a professor of political science at Rutgers University, said: “The book argues that American institutions adopt two separate approaches to street crime and corporate crime. … The core argument is that the criminal justice system is designed to govern street crime very punitively. The second justice system is the regulatory state. And that is designed to govern corporate crime through the operations of regulatory agencies and bodies.”