Opinion · District Court, M.D. Pennsylvania

Bizarre v. Berryhill

364 F. Supp. 3d 418

Type
Opinion
Court
District Court, M.D. Pennsylvania
Jurisdiction
Pennsylvania
Date
2019-03-04
Topic
general

acknowledging that the Bizarre court’s analysis “breaks from the emerging consensus of federal courts to address this issue” | acknowledging that the Bizarre court’s analysis “breaks from the emerging consensus of federal courts to address this issue” | acknowledging that the Bizarre court’s analysis “breaks from the emerging consensus of federal courts to address this issue” | limiting rationale to failure to exhaust constitutional issues and issuing alternative holding that, even if forfeited, court would exercise discretion to excuse failure to exhaust | limiting rationale to failure to exhaust constitutional issues and issuing alternative holding that, even if forfeited, court would exercise discretion to excuse failure to exhaust | limiting rationale to failure to exhaust constitutional issues and issuing alternative holding that, even if forfeited, court would exercise discretion to excuse failure to exhaust | limiting rationale to failure to exhaust constitutional issues and issuing alternative holding that, even if forfeited, court would exercise discretion to excuse failure to exhaust | limiting rationale to failure to exhaust constitutional issues and issuing alternative holding that, even if forfeited, court would exercise discretion to excuse failure to exhaust | noting that the petitioner filed his appeal in January 2018 | finding the Third Circuit precedent established there is no issue preservation requirement at the Appeals Council level and the SSA lacks a “statutory analogue” to other agencies' requirements that issues be raised administratively or risk forfeiture | finding the Third Circuit precedent established there is no issue preservation requirement at the Appeals Council level and the SSA lacks a “statutory analogue” to other agencies' requirements that issues be raised administratively or risk forfeiture | finding the Third Circuit precedent established there is no issue preservation requirement at the Appeals Council level and the SSA lacks a “statutory analogue” to other agencies' requirements that issues be raised administratively or risk forfeiture | stating there is no authority for the ALJs to resolve constitutional issues | like in Freytag : (1) there was no authority identified by the court or the Commissioner suggesting the ALJ had the authority to resolve constitutional challenges to his own appointment; (2 | "The Commissioner does not suggest (and we have found no authority indicating) that a Social Security ALJ would be authorized to resolve or redress a constitutional challenge to his or her own authority." | "The [ Lucia ] majority's statement as to timeliness was not a bright-line demarcation of how and when such a claim must be brought; it simply confirmed the obvious timeliness of the fully preserved and exhausted claim as presented." | rejecting Commissioner's argument non-jurisdictional Appointments Clause challenge is forfeited

Citator

Cited by
44 opinions

AND NOW, this 4th day of March, 2019, upon consideration of the appeal (Doc. 1) of plaintiff John Steven Bizarre ("Bizarre") from the adverse decision of the Acting Commissioner of the Social Security Administration ("Commissioner"), and the report (Doc. 24) of Magistrate Judge Joseph F. Saporito, Jr., recommending the court deny Bizarre's appeal and affirm the decision of the Commissioner, and further upon consideration of Bizarre's objections (Doc. 25) to the report and the Commissioner's response (Doc. 26) thereto, and for the reasons stated in the court's accompanying memorandum of today's date, it is hereby ORDERED that:

1. The court declines to adopt the magistrate judge's report (Doc. 24) to the extent it recommends that the court reject Bizarre's claim under the Appointments Clause of the United States Constitution for failure to raise same before the Commissioner or the administrative law judge in the first instance.
2. The Clerk of Court is DIRECTED to enter judgment in favor of Bizarre and against the Commissioner as set forth in the following paragraph.
3. The Commissioner's decision is VACATED and this matter is REMANDED to the Commissioner with instructions to conduct a new hearing and issue a new decision in accordance with this order and the court's memorandum of today's date. The new hearing shall be conducted by a different administrative law judge who has been properly appointed in accordance with the Appointments Clause of the United States Constitution.
4. The Clerk of Court shall thereafter CLOSE this case.