States Can’t Seize Inmates’ Social Security
States may not recoup some of the costs of keeping criminals behind bars by seizing money prison inmates receive in federal benefits, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously today.
The court struck down an Arkansas law that let authorities seize for state use an inmate’s Social Security benefits.
The same state law allowed seizure of Veterans Administration benefits as well. Although the court’s decision did not discuss VA benefits, its rationale would appear to bar seizure of those federal payments as well.
The justices, in an unsigned opinion, said federal law “unambiguously rules out any attempt to attach Social Security benefits.”
Noting that the Arkansas law allows such attachment, the court said, “This amounts to a conflict . . . that the state cannot win.”
Federal laws creating the Social Security and Veterans Administration programs bar any legal action aimed at diverting benefits away from the designated recipients.
The impact of today’s ruling has been blunted somewhat by laws passed by Congress in 1980 and 1983 withholding or limiting benefits otherwise due imprisoned felons.
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