I previously wrote about how Social Security can stop benefits if a person is a fleeing or fugitive felon.
The courts have been wrestling with the question of whether an outstanding arrest warrant (not a conviction, just the arrest warrant) is enough to make a person a “fleeing felon.”
NSCLC Website writes about a court’s rejection of Social Security claiming a person was “fleeing” in order to stop their benefits.
Another court, this time in Tennessee, has rejected the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) position that it can suspend Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits by relying on the existence of an outstanding arrest warrant alone to conclude that a person falls within the statutory prohibition on payment of benefits to a person who is “fleeing to avoid prosecution” for a felony. Caldwell v. Astrue, 2008 WL 2713714 (E.D. Tenn. July 10, 2008). The court relied on the SSI regulation, 20 CFR 416.1339(b)(1), which “requires a court finding that the person is fleeing,” as well as on Sixth Circuit caselaw interpreting the similar language in the federal criminal law provision for tolling the statute of limitations when someone is “fleeing justice.” 18 U.S.C. 3290. Mr. Caldwell said he left California after being questioned by police, not because he was fleeing to avoid prosecution, but rather out of fear for his safety because of threats made by the individuals involved in the criminal matter.
Keep in mind that this case is just in the 6th District and is not “the law of the land.”
Via Yet Another Court Rejects SSA’s ‘Fleeing’ Rule.
Note: there is a lot of litigation concerning what constitutes a “fleeing felon.” Check with a lawyer if you, or someone you love, has had the benefit stopped by Social Security because they are a, “fleeing felon.”
