Federal district court decision.
Under the statute, the fleeing felon provision on which Social Security relies to terminate benefits only applies if a person intends to flee from prosecution, not if a warrant exists but was unknown to the person at the time she left the jurisdiction. Contrary to Social Security?s argument that a person with an outstanding warrant is a fleeing felon under the statute until the warrant is resolved, the statute and applicable regulations in fact require a court finding that the person is in fact fleeing prosecution.
Federal district court decision.
The mere existence of a warrant for Blakely?s arrest on a felony assault charge was insufficient to show flight to avoid prosecution, and therefore could not serve as the basis for SSA?s decision to terminate claimant's supplemental security income (SSI) benefits, even though the claimant, Blakely, was aware of warrant; Blakely was not aware of the warrant when he left the state, he did not attempt to conceal himself, he was financially and physically unable to travel to the state that issued the warrant, and the state refused to extradite him, even though he volunteered to return.
Federal district court decision.
District court was not required to defer to SSA Commissioner's interpretation of ?fleeing felon? statute, despite statute's failure to define that phrase; The agency?s implementing regulation did not implicate an area of special agency expertise, and SSA?s interpretation, that the mere issuance of a warrant sufficed regardless of the absence of any showing of intent, nullified the regulation's plain language requiring "an appropriate finding that the individual is fleeing, or has fled, to avoid prosecution".
Federal Court of Appeals decision (Second Circuit).
The court found that SSA?s guidelines for declaring a person a fleeing felon were inconsistent with statute and regulations, in that they did not require proof of intent to evade justice. The court, not SSA, is permitted to make a finding that the party is fleeing prosecution. Benefits cannot be suspended from the date a warrant itself was issued, but rather, from the date in which a person is officially declared a fleeing felon. The case was remanded to the district court to treat Fowlkes? complaint as a petition for review of the SSA Commissioner?s decision to suspend Fowlkes? benefits.
A synopsis of the key facts and holdings of federal court cases addressing the SSA's interpretation of the federal "fleeing felon" statutory language that allows discontinuation of benefits for claimants who flee a jurisdiciton to avoid criminal prosecution.
Short summary of the Fleeing Felon rules, successful court challenges, and contact information for advocates, published by the National Senior Citizen Law Center.
Authored by Gerry McIntyre, this article explains the welfare legislation that created the "fleeing felon" rule allowing discontinuation of SSI benefits, legal developments, SSA's misapplication of the rule, and legal developments.
It was originally published in Clearinghouse Review.
U.S. Code provisions on eligibility for benefits, highlighting the provisions governing the fleeing felon exclusion from benefits. (Relevant provisions are bolded.)
