Cox v. Social

• Court: Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
• Decided: December 1, 1997
• Docket: 97-1219
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

[NOT FOR PUBLICATION]

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIRST CIRCUIT

No. 97-1219

BARBARA M. COX,

Plaintiff, Appellant,

v.

SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION COMMISSIONER,

Defendant, Appellee.

APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE DISTRICT OF MAINE

[Hon. Gene Carter, U.S. District Judge]

Before

Selya, Boudin and Lynch, Circuit Judges.

Francis M. Jackson on brief for appellant.

Jay P. McCloskey, United States Attorney, David R. Collins,

Assistant United States Attorney, and Thomas D. Ramsey, Assistant

Regional Counsel, Region I, Social Security Administration, on brief for appellee.

November 26, 1997

Per Curiam. Claimant-appellant Barbara Cox appeals

from a judgment of the district court adopting the

Magistrate's report and affirming an order of the

Commissioner of Social Security that Cox was not entitled to

disability benefits. Having carefully reviewed the record

and the parties' briefs, we reject each of appellant's

assignments of error under Social Security Ruling 83-20, and

affirm substantially for the reasons stated in the

Magistrate's thorough report of December 16, 1996. We add

here only that, contrary to appellant's suggestion, the

Administrative Law Judge's (ALJ's) decision contains findings

adequate to permit effective review of his determination as

to appellant's credibility, and there was no prejudice in the

ALJ's failure to separately mention appellant's husband's

affidavit. See Stein v. Sullivan, 966 F.2d 317, 319 (7th

Cir. 1992) (noting that the level of articulation required in

an ALJ's decision is not precise). The finding that

appellant did not demonstrate the onset of a severe mental

impairment prior to the expiration of her insured status is

supported by substantial evidence in the record as a whole.

Affirmed.

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