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  Seeking a Welfare Rule's Repeal
Posted by FoM on February 28, 2002 at 21:54:29 PT
Cheryl W. Thompson, Washington Post Staff Writer 
Source: Washington Post 

justice A lifetime ban on welfare benefits for women convicted of drug crimes is having "devastating consequences" for poor women and their children and should be repealed immediately, according to a study released yesterday.

The study by the Washington-based Sentencing Project found that the ban, which took effect in 1996 as part of the 1996 Welfare Reform Act, affects more than 92,000 women and 135,000 children. Nearly half of those affected are African American or Hispanic.

The Welfare Reform Act allows the denial of financial assistance, including food stamps, to anyone convicted of felony drug use or selling drugs.

"This short-sighted law places children and families at a much higher risk for failure and ensures ever-growing societal costs to repair the damage," said Marc Mauer, assistant director of the Sentencing Project, an organization that promotes alternatives to imprisonment.

Twenty-two states, including Delaware, Pennsylvania and Virginia, deny all benefits, the study showed. Ten states require drug treatment as a condition of receiving benefits and 10 have partial bans. Eight states and the District have opted out of the ban.

Massachusetts modified its lifetime ban in December and now allows anyone convicted of drug crimes to be eligible for food stamps, according to the study. However, they cannot receive cash assistance for the first year of their release unless they meet certain exemptions, such as pregnancy.

In Wisconsin, mothers remain eligible for food stamps and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families if they pass random drug tests. Mothers who test positive for drugs immediately lose their eligibility.

Nearly 35,000 African American women and 10,000 Hispanic women -- 48 percent of the total of those denied benefits -- are affected, the study found. African American women in Alabama, Delaware, Illinois, Mississippi and Virginia make up the majority of women denied benefits. Hispanic women were affected most in California and Arizona.

In Virginia, twice as many African American women were convicted of felony drug offenses as white women; in Illinois, more than 8,800 African American women were convicted of a drug crime compared with 1,029 white women, according to the study.

The study recommends that Congress hold hearings on the issue and "consider an immediate repeal of the lifetime welfare ban." It also urges state governments to consider opting out of the ban or modifying it. States that link drug treatment to welfare benefits should offer additional programs such as job training or GED courses "to allow women to maintain their welfare benefits," the study said.

"The well-being of children is intimately linked to the well-being of their parents, which is why this law is a direct threat to so many families," said Patricia Allard, the study's author.

Note: Report Says Ban on Aid to Drug Users 'Devastates' Children.

Source: Washington Post (DC)
Author: Cheryl W. Thompson, Washington Post Staff Writer
Published: Friday, March 1, 2002; Page A09
Copyright: 2002 The Washington Post Company
Contact: letterstoed@washpost.com
Website: http://www.washingtonpost.com

The Sentencing Project
http://www.sentencingproject.org/

CannabisNews Justice Archives
http://cannabisnews.com/news/list/justice.shtml


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Comment #2 posted by goneposthole on March 01, 2002 at 06:56:28 PT
Drugs
like alcohol, prescription medicines, and cigarettes are good. Can't be beat.

If you choose to sell alcohol, cigarettes, and prescription medicines above board, you can remove yourself from the welfare rolls and become a productive citizen. You would become a 'good' American.

What a relief.

Everybody will be happy.



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Comment #1 posted by The GCW on March 01, 2002 at 04:05:26 PT
The Apostasy
I wasn't aware of this. It is actually a step further than denying govenrment education grant money to students...

So when a murderer and a drug dealer gets out of prison, the money goes to the murderer. So we deny them to vote; get an education; get food stamps; on and on and on, and then all society (that does not have personal security and a 3rd floor butler)pays dearly for the resulting problems. We create wrath, like the devil.

It isn't that the prohibitionist laws have a couple mistakes, but that there is such a long list of evil, backward thinking, it just keeps exposing more and more ignorance. There are so many really deluded people pushing these so many evil laws.

It really, again, puts, 2 Th. 2 and 1 Tim. 4:1-5 into perspective. We are talking about a large and growing group of humans unable to tell the truth. Detatched - void of the Holy Spirit of Truth. Wrath magnets. The ease at which we see this evil, is explained as a given blessing, in that those totally deluded, are standouts, for a reason. Their 100% obvious ignorance, that they don't see, is described as our blessing for us to see. That Apostasy / prophecy, is taking place. Anyone able to see the truth, has it and can go to the next level. Those who do not have the will to see the truth, stumble, yet they think they run.



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