August 15, 2009
Social Security Ordered to Repay 80,000 Social Security Recipients After Funds Illegally Withheld
The San Francisco Chronicle reports that a federal district court judge has ordered the Social Security Administration to repay over $500 million improperly withheld from over 80,000 disability and retirement recipients from 2007 through 2009.
According to lawyers who filed a class action suit, SSA ordered its staff to withhold benefits from anyone who was named in an arrest warrant for a federal or state felony. The problem: many of the affected claimants were not aware of any warrants, in many cases the charges were dropped, and in other cases, SSA erred in identifying the individuals affected.
SSA should have limited its program of withholding benefits to those on the run who are attempting to avoid prosecution or punishment.
Filed under They're trying to stop my benefits by
Jonathan Ginsberg
Comments on Social Security Ordered to Repay 80,000 Social Security Recipients After Funds Illegally Withheld »
Benefits should not be withheld until the client has been proven guilty of the crime for which they have been accused. Whatever happened to the, "Innocent until proven guilty"?
Mr. Ginsberg-
Yours is a very impressive and informative blog. I am an attorney in Dallas Texas limiting my practice to SSDI. I partidularly like your post here that social security disability should be something one is loath to do. Your caution about an entitlement attitude is very important. I am coming late to the blog workd. My blog is at http://dallasdisabilityattorney.blogspot.com/. I hope you will consider adding me to your list of linke. Thanks.