As Americans prepare to receive their third stimulus check, some people are asking, "Are prisoners going to receive these checks, too?"
Before President Joe Biden signed the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill, also known as the American Rescue Plan Act, some members of congress raised concerns that people in jail who were convicted of murder and other crimes would receive the money as well as other Americans.
Sen. Tom Cotton recently tweeted, "Senate Democrats just voted to give stimulus checks to criminals in prison." Cotton also said Boston bomber Dzohkar Tsarnaev and white supremacist and mass murderer Dylann Roof would receive these checks.
While it is unclear if Tsarnaev and Roof would receive the checks, some of the new stimulus checks will go to prisoners. This is much like the stimulus checks from the CARES Act and the Consolidated Appropriations Act, both of which Cotton voted in favor of, as did other Republican senators.
Cotton's press secretary said he voted for the CARES Act because at the time, COVID-19 was "an unprecedented problem," and they said he voted for the Consolidated Appropriations Act because, "there was no opportunity to amend the bill."
Cotton is not wrong when he said money from the American Rescue Plan Act will go to some prisoners or their family members. His tweets and posts just need some context.
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