Practice Areas

Blog

Library

Social Security Disability payments restored for falsely accused “Fugitive Felons”

In 1996, the Social Security Administration launched a program dubbed “Fugitive Felons”, the goal of which was to save taxpayers money by stopping the payment of Social Security benefits to individuals “fleeing to avoid prosecution”. The “Fugitive Felons” program was extended to Social Security Disability in 2006, with disastrous consequences for some innocent people.

As a result of the program, at least 200,000 elderly and disabled people lost their Social Security benefits. Was it because they really were felons? A federal judge recently weighed in on the matter, and concluded that most of the people who lost their benefits were just ordinary folks – not felons, not fleeing anywhere.

In order to make up for this horrendous blunder, the judge approved a civil-court settlement that will require the SSA to repay about $500 million to 80,000 recipients who lost their benefits after being categorized as fugitive felons. So far the SSA has declined to comment about either the ruling or the ‘fugitive felons’ debacle.

How did this disaster happen? Investigations revealed that Social Security employees in charge of deciding who was a ‘fugitive felon’ were relying on an operations manual stating that a ‘fugitive felon’ was anyone with an outstanding warrant. It didn’t matter if the person was not actually fleeing anywhere or trying to avoid being captured – all that was necessary to cut off someone’s benefits was to find out that they had an outstanding warrant.

According to the National Senior Citizens Law Center, an advocacy group that sued the SSA on behalf of those denied benefits, many of the outstanding warrants were for minor offenses, were decades old, and in some cases people did not even know they existed.

Other people relying on SSA money saw their payments cut off because of a case of mistaken identity. This happened because the agency was checking database records of old warrants only by matching a person’s first and last name, and either their Social Security Number or their date of birth. Middle initials and gender were not used to verify a match, resulting in some false matches and leading to innocent people being classified as fugitive felons, which then led to a loss of their SSA benefits.

As if this wasn’t bad enough, some people who found out that they had an old warrant out in their name that they did not know about were able to clear it up. However, the SSA maintained that they should not have had to pay benefits while the warrant was active, no matter the reason. This has led to people being billed by SSA for overpayments, and in some cases the SSA has cut off benefits until the overpayment amount is repaid.

Clearly the ‘fugitive felons’ program is something of a disaster. The very people depending on the SSA to make ends meet were cut off and even sent bills because the agency did not do its due diligence.

What can you do if you find yourself fighting for your Social Security disability benefits like these wrongly-labeled ‘fugitive felons’? Find yourself an experienced SSD attorney – fast. With decades of experience our lawyers are able to help men and women just like with claims, appeals, and various other SSA issues.

Markhoff & Mittman, P.C.

14 Mamaroneck Avenue

Suite 400

White Plains, NY 10601

Toll Free: (866) 205-2415

Phone: (914) 946-1452

Fax: (914) 946-0810

Ask an Attorney

Main Office
14 Mamaroneck Avenue
Suite 201
White Plains, NY 10601
Phone: (914) 946-1452
Fax: (914) 946-0810
Toll Free: (866) 205-2415

Get Directions

Long Island Office
1778 Hempstead Turnpike
East Meadow, NY 11554
Phone: (914) 946-1452
Fax: (914)946-0810
Toll Free: (866) 205-2415

Get Directions

New York City
New York City
by Appointment Only

Get Directions