Welfare reform - punishment of drug offenders - Congress denies cash assistance and food stamps to drug felons. - Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, Pub. L. No. 104-193, s. 115, 110 Stat. 2105 (to be codified at 42 U.S.C. s. 862a)
Article Abstract:
The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 includes a provision that makes drug felons ineligible for food stamps or public assistance, but there seems to be no legitimate policy rationale for imposing an additional punishment on drug felons, who are disproportionately poor and minority. Denying assistance to people who are among the most vulnerable is a perverse policy decision. The law may force some drug felons back into illegal activities to support themselves. The law will not reduce the incidence of drug crimes and will not serve to punish effectively.
Publication Name: Harvard Law Review
Subject: Law
ISSN: 0017-811X
Year: 1997
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Welfare reform - treatment of legal immigrants - Congress authorizes states to deny public benefits to noncitizens and excludes legal immigrants from federal aid programs. - Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, Pub. L. No. 104-193, 110 Stat. 2105
Article Abstract:
Provisions in the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act of 1996 that allow states to deny welfare benefits to noncitizens and allow for exclusion of legal immigrants from federal aid programs are inconsistent with equal protection principles. The US Supreme Court held in Graham v. Richardson that state denial of benefits to legal immigrants violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. Mathews v. Diaz applied the rational basis to federal denial of benefits to immigrants, but courts should be less deferential because the law is not immigration policy.
Publication Name: Harvard Law Review
Subject: Law
ISSN: 0017-811X
Year: 1997
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Welfare - fraud prevention - New York requires finger imaging for welfare recipients - 1995 N.Y. Laws 83, s. 266
Article Abstract:
New York's controversial welfare reform law requiring finger imaging of recipients may well be constitutional, but may not be financially justifiable as a means of preventing double dipping. The inconclusive empirical data on recipients' fraud has led the law's advocates to proclaim finger imaging to be an effective deterrent, while opponents maintain that double dipping was not a widespread practice in the first place. This expensive plan may be politically popular, but its value as a fraud control measure is difficult to prove.
Publication Name: Harvard Law Review
Subject: Law
ISSN: 0017-811X
Year: 1996
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- Abstracts: Much of the transactional activity following the Telecommunications Act of 1996 flows from the elimination of entry barriers and outmoded regulations
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