A federal judge’s ruling in California clears the way for Vermont inmates, as well as others across the country, to receive government-issued stimulus checks.
The decision rejects an earlier determination by the IRS that blocked prisoners from obtaining the money. The ruling has those advocating for incarcerated people in Vermont pushing to get information out about the availability of the funds.
The court order regarding the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, or CARES Act, came down recently from Judge Phyllis Hamilton.
Specifically, the judge’s ruling stated, “incarcerated individuals are not excludable as an ‘eligible individual’ under the Act.”
More recent orders stating nothing in the legislation prevents prisoners from access to the checks of up to $1,200, plus $500 more for each qualifying child, have laid out the deadlines for incarcerated people to apply for the funds.
The decision by Hamilton, who sits in the federal Northern District of California, addresses the at times conflicting, confusing, and uncertain status of the eligibility and withholding of access to the money for prisoners.
An IRS spokesperson referred comment on the matter to the department’s website.
A notice on the website stated that the IRS is appealing Hamilton’s ruling.
However, the judge did not grant the IRS a stay — a court-ordered hold — of the proceedings pending that appeal and the process of incarcerated people applying for and receiving the funds is ongoing.
Tom Dalton, executive director of Vermonters for Criminal Justice Reform, said the funds are vital to incarcerated people for many reasons, from paying for personal needs and for phone calls to assisting family members outside of a facility.
“Incarceration of parents puts children at risk, and that’s especially true during times of economic crisis like now,” Dalton said.
“This money,” he added, “would make a big difference to the well-being of children of incarcerated parents and those families are some of the poorest and most vulnerable families in the state.”
Dalton said the funds will also help incarcerated people pay for legal obligations, such as child support, restitution, and fines.
In addition, he said, many incarcerated people are preparing to return to the community and need money to secure housing to be successful.
Also, Dalton said, the stimulus checks for incarcerated people provide additional economic benefit to the state as a whole, bringing in more federal funding into Vermont.
That’s why, he said, it’s important to get the word out.
“I’ve heard reports that people haven’t seen any information about this, with inmates finding out about it from word of mouth,” he said.
Dalton has been in contact with the state Department of Corrections, calling on its staff and caseworkers to spread the information about the availability of the funds as well as helping people apply.
“It really needs to be the Department of Corrections taking the lead on this,” he said. “They are the only ones that have the capacity and access to incarcerated people across facilities to make sure that they hear about the eligibility, the deadlines, and the support they need to get the information.”
Dalton added he believed it was important that caseworkers receive the information and training to ensure incarcerated people can correctly fill out needed forms.
Rachel Feldman, a spokesperson for the state Department of Corrections, said Monday that all inmates have been provided packets and forms within the last week.
Feldman said the decision was only handed down recently and the department has been working to get information out to the inmates.
“We have information that we distributed to our incarcerated population that they can fill out and mail in to the address that’s given in the cover letter,” she said.
If inmates have questions, Feldman said, they can ask questions and help is available.
Vermont Defender General Matthew Valerio, whose department includes the state’s prisoners’ rights office, said Monday he was aware of the ruling, but wasn’t aware of complaints from inmates over the matter.
“I know that the federal court said that they (the IRS) have to provide the payment,” Valerio said, adding, “I encourage DOC to follow the law, just like anybody else has to.”
As of Monday afternoon, the Vermont Department of Corrections reported housing 1,384 inmates, including 211 prisoners at an out-of-state facility in Mississippi. Feldman said the department has provided the information to both in-state and out-of-state inmates.
The nonprofit Equal Justice Society, which was involved in representing plaintiffs in the case, stated on its website that the U.S. Treasury Department Inspector General reported that as of May at least 80,000 incarcerated people nationwide were eligible for payments of more than $100 million.
The deadline for paper filings is a postmark of Nov. 4. The online filing deadline is Nov. 21.
Read the story on VTDigger here: Federal judge says IRS can’t withhold stimulus checks from Vermont inmates.