An Arkansas doctor whom a federal jury convicted 13 years ago of possessing child pornography, rejecting his claims that he saved the unwanted computer images for the sole purpose of turning them over to the FBI, on Thursday asked a federal judge to prevent the state from enforcing a new law that forbids him from being a Medicaid provider.
Lonnie Joseph Parker, whose medical license was reinstated in 2005 by the Arkansas State Medical Board, provides emergency and general family medical services in Hempstead County, where he says that about 75 percent of his patients are Medicaid beneficiaries.
He f iled a lawsuit on Sept. 13 challenging the legality of Act 1504 of 2013, which took effect on Aug. 16. It prohibits anyone who has been ordered by a court to register as a sex offender or who is listed on the FBI’s National Sex Offender Registry from providing goods or services under the Arkansas Medicaid Program, which Parker says violates the federal Medicaid Act as well as the U.S. Constitution.
U.S. District Judge Bill Wilson heard arguments Thursday on Parker’s motion for a preliminary injunction, as well as the state’s arguments in opposition, but requested more information before he issues a written ruling.
Parker, classified as the lowest-level offender by the Arkansas Sex Offender Assessment Committee, is on the registry as a result of his Sept. 18, 2000, felony conviction, for which he served 57 months in prison.
He has always maintained that he was wrongly convicted, but his numerous efforts to have the conviction thrown out have been unsuccessful.
The Arkansas native and former member of both the U.S. Marine Corps and the U.S. Air Force was serving his residency at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, after graduating from the prestigious Mayo Medical School in Rochester, Minn., when federal agents first questioned him in January 1998 about the sexually explicit images.
He said FBI agents he had first contacted in Minnesota, when the illegal images were sent to his daughter on the family computer, told him to save the images and take them to the FBI office, but he was too overwhelmed by work to immediately comply.
Attorney John Hardy of Little Rock, who filed the lawsuit on Parker’s behalf, argued that the new law, which he suspects was aimed specifically at Parker, “does not have a stated intent or legislative findings of a plausible benefit for the people of Arkansas. Its sole purpose, besides political expediency, is to further punish all individuals who can be labeled sex offenders.”
Hardy told Wilson that the only reason he can see for amending the Medicaid law to add the provision is so politicians can “appear tough on sex offenders.”
He cited a reference in a Legislative Audit Division report for the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2012, that explained the state Department of Human Services’ policy in reference to “Dr. L.P.’s conviction.” The report noted that the “state Medical Board, not DMS [the Division of Medicaid Services], determines whether a person is qualif ied and f it to practice medicine. DMS will not substitute its judgment for the Board’s by prohibiting the provider from delivering health care services to Medicaid recipients.”
Mark White, an attorney for the department, argued that it is the Legislature’s prerogative to make a policy decision with a rational basis. That prompted Wilson to ask both sides to provide him with any research about whether people convicted of possessing child pornography are likely to re-offend or be considered dangerous to children.
White also noted that Parker isn’t necessarily permanently barred from providing services through the Medicaid program, because he can apply to be removed from the sex offender registry after 15 years, which in Parker’s case would be in 2020.
He said the purpose behind the legislation is toprotect the beneficiaries of Medicaid, noting, “The state has a public policy interest in assuring that those who receive health care from the state are protected from sex offenders.”
Wilson noted that in rejecting Parker’s appeal of his conviction in 2001, the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the “depraved nature” of the photographs, which involved the abuse of babies, should have called for a sentencing enhancement. The court not only rejected Parker’s appeal but also ordered his sentence increased from what had originally been 37 months.
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 17 on 09/29/2013