NCJ Number
75206
Date Published
1980
Length
100 pages
Annotation
Testimony before the House Subcommitee on Social Security examines proposed legislation that would limit the receipt of social security benefits by inmates.
Abstract
The bill under consideration would deny social security benefits to a convicted felon who claims disability because of something that happened to him or her during the commission of the crime or in connection with prison life. This would be done by amending the definition of disability. The bill would also deny so-called student's benefits under social security to persons jailed after felony convictions. Further, the bill would deny benefits to anyone who refuses, without good cause, to receive rehabilitation services, which would have the effect of curbing benefits to imprisoned convicted felons. Testimony documents that under current law, inmates who have paid into social security are eligible for its benefits under terms that would apply to any other citizen. Much of the testimony supports legislation that would limit inmates' receipt of social security benefits on the basis that they already receive benefits by being residents of government-supported institutions and therefore that social security benefits are not needed. The representative from the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation,, Inc. argued in his testimony that social security benefits are earned by a citizen's payments into the system and that benefits cannot constitutionally be denied to a particular group of citizens. The denial of benefits on the basis of being institutionalized in a government-supported institution is argued to be a precedent for limiting social security benefits to any resident of such an institution. In addition to the record of oral testimony, written material submitted for the record is provided.