1/ People locked in prisons and jails qualify for the $1,200 stimulus checks that most of received back in the spring, but government officials have made it hard for them to get the money. My latest with the badass @keribla https://www.themarshallproject.org/2020/10/21/prisoners-won-the-right-to-stimulus-checks-some-prisons-are-standing-in-the-way

2/ The IRS initially approved stimulus for prisoners, paying about $100 million to 85,000 people in the early days of the pandemic. Then they reversed course in early May, said the law prohibited payments

3/ That was nonsense. Congress clearly defined the two groups who could not get the checks; dependents and foreigners without a residency permit. Not a word about prisoners.

4/ A federal judge ordered the IRS to start the payments to prisoners. In her decision, Judge Phyllis Hamilton repeatedly criticized the government for failing to provide any evidence to back up its case

5/ Harsh words from the judge. Government lawyers “had not directed the court to any evidence indicating that the Treasury Department or the IRS gave any reason for the decision to exclude payments to incarcerated individuals, much less an adequate one.”

6/ The decision is clear, but prison officials haven’t made it easy. On Oct 12, two popular prison legal newsletters gave instructions on how to claim the money. The @OfficialFBOP blocked the newsletters, which carried accurate information about federal law and court decisions.

7/ The @OfficialFBOP said it was a mistake. Lawyer Brandon Sample called that farcical. “I don’t think anything the agency is saying is true

8/ It’s not difficult to apply. All one has to do is file a tax return, even if no income was earned.

9/ Prisoners told us they have had a hard time getting access to the proper forms. Or they can’t access a printer to print out the forms. People in solitary confinement have an especially hard time learning about the payments, let alone getting access to the forms or a computer.

10/ Others said mailroom employees confiscated the forms, or that some states are refusing the forms entirely. Some states have banned prisoners from receiving blank forms.

11/ Incarcerated people must file a tax return by Nov. 4, even if they earned no income in 2019. Or they can register online by Nov. 21, the deadline the IRS has set for anyone who is not typically required to file tax returns.