Stamping out food stamp abuse has turned out to be a real food fight.  The plaintiffs operate a small grocery store authorized to issue food stamps.  One day while a part-time employee was working alone, a man came in and asked if he could exchange $30 worth of food stamps for $30 in cash.  The employee said no problem.  Unfortunately, the person getting the cash turned out to be an undercover agent with the Food and Nutrition Service, and the store was charged with trafficking in food stamps and summarily thrown out of the food stamp program.  The store appealed stating the employee knew that exchanging food stamps for cash was prohibited, that it was just a momentary lapse of judgment and the store should not be thrown out of the program.  The Court that first heard the case ruled the store had no standing, but the Court of Appeals reversed holding that vendors didn’t have proper notice of the severity of punishment.  The Court noted that the regulation said, “It’s a good idea to have a written anti-trafficking policy,” and the Court said it’s a bad idea to punish what was not clearly required.  So in this food stamp case, it’s the government whose taken a licking.

THIS IS NEIL CHAYET LOOKING AT THE LAW™

Affum v. U.S., U.S. District Court of Appeals, No. 08-5189, May 26, 2009, Edwards, J., U.S. Law Week, Vol. 77, No. 46, Pg. 1727, 6-2-09

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