Ware v. Colvin

997 F. Supp. 2d 1212, 2014 WL 358726
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Alabama
DecidedJanuary 31, 2014
DocketCase No. 7:12-CV-3663-VEH
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 997 F. Supp. 2d 1212 (Ware v. Colvin) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ware v. Colvin, 997 F. Supp. 2d 1212, 2014 WL 358726 (N.D. Ala. 2014).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

VIRGINIA EMERSON HOPKINS, District Judge.

Plaintiff Diann Ware, on behalf of her minor son J.P., brings this action pursuant to Title XVI of the Social Security Act. She seeks review of a final adverse decision of the Commissioner of the Social Security Administration (“Commissioner”), who denied her application for Supplemental Security Income (“SSI”).2 Ms. Ware timely pursued and exhausted her adminis[1215]*1215trative remedies available before the Commissioner. The case is ripe for review under 42 U.S.C. § 405(g).3

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

J.P. was nine years old at the time of the second administrative hearing before the Administrative Law Judge (“ALJ”) and had completed the third grade.4 (Tr. 56). Ms. Ware claims that her son became disabled on February 15, 2006, due to: attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (“ADHD”) and headaches. (Tr. 198, 56-58).

Alice Ware, Ms. Ware’s mother, protectively filed a Title XVI application for SSI on behalf of J.P. on August 30, 2007. (Tr. 188). On December 5, 2007, the Commissioner initially denied these claims. (Tr. 101). Ms. Ware then filed a written request for a hearing on January 2, 2008. (Tr. 104-06). An ALJ, Geoffrey S. Cash-er, held a hearing on April 24, 2009. (Tr. 40). He issued a decision denying Ms. Ware’s application on July 8, 2009. (Tr. 91).

On August 17, 2009, Ms. Ware, through her attorney, requested a review of the decision to address additional evidence. (Tr. 132). The Appeals Council remanded the case back to an ALJ on October 26, 2009. (Tr. 92). Another ALJ, Charles A. Thigpen, conducted a hearing on the matter on July 28, 2010. (Tr. 53). On September 17, 2010, he issued an opinion con-eluding J.P. was not disabled and denying benefits. (Tr. 35). Ms. Ware timely petitioned the Appeal Council to review the decision on October 25, 2010.5 (Tr. 11). On July 11, 2012, the Appeals Council denied a review on her claim. (Tr. 5-8). The Appeals Council then set this denial aside to consider additional information and re-denied Ms. Ware’s request for review on August 22, 2012. (Tr. 1^1).

On October 22, 2012, Ms. Ware filed a Complaint with this court. (Doc. 1). The Commissioner answered on January 28, 2013. (Doc. 6). Ms. Ware filed a supporting brief (Doc. 8) on March 14, 2013, and the Commissioner responded with her own brief (Doc. 9) on April 15, 2013. With the parties having fully briefed the matter, the court has carefully considered the record and reverses the decision of the Commissioner.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

The function of this court is to determine whether the decision of the Commissioner is supported by substantial evidence and whether proper legal standards were applied. Richardson v. Perales, 402 U.S. 389, 390, 91 S.Ct. 1420, 28 L.Ed.2d 842 (1971); McRoberts v. Bowen, 841 F.2d 1077, 1080 (11th Cir.1988); Graham v. Bowen, 790 F.2d 1572, 1575 (11th Cir.1986); Bloodsworth v. Heckler, 703 F.2d 1233, 1239 (11th Cir.1983). This court must “scrutinize the record as a whole to determine if the decision reached is reasonable and supported by substantial [1216]*1216evidence.” Bloodsworth, 703 F.2d at 1239. This court will determine that the ALJ’s opinion is supported by substantial evidence if it finds “such relevant evidence as a reasonable person would accept as adequate to support a conclusion.” Id. Substantial evidence is “more than a scintilla, but less than a preponderance.” Id. The court “may not decide facts anew, reweigh the evidence, or substitute [its] judgment for that of the [Commissioner.]” Dyer v. Barnhart, 395 F.3d 1206, 1210 (11th Cir.2005) (citation omitted). The ALJ’s legal conclusions, however, are reviewed de novo, because no presumption of validity attaches to the ALJ’s determination of the proper legal standards to be applied. Davis v. Shalala, 985 F.2d 528, 531 (11th Cir.1993). If the court finds an error in the ALJ’s application of the law, or if the ALJ fails to provide the court with sufficient reasoning for determining that the proper legal analysis has been conducted, the ALJ’s decision must be reversed. Cornelius v. Sullivan, 936 F.2d 1143, 1145-46 (11th Cir.1991).

STATUTORY AND REGULATORY FRAMEWORK

To qualify for SSI benefits an individual under age 18, defined as a child under the Social Security Act, must be disabled as defined by the Social Security Act and the Regulations promulgated thereunder.6 See 20 C.F.R. § 416.906. The law defines children’s “disability” as “a medically determinable physical or mental impairment or combination of impairments that causes marked and severe functional limitations, and that can be expected to cause death or that has lasted or can be expected to last for a continuous period of not less than 12 months.” Id.

In determining whether a child is disabled, the Regulations provide a three-step process. 20 C.F.R. § 416.924(a). The Commissioner must determine in sequence: (1) whether the child is engaged in substantial gainful activity, (2) whether the child has an impairment or combination of impairments that is severe; and (3) whether the child has an impairment that meets, medically equals, or functionally equals the Listing of Impairments. Id.; see also Henry v. Barnhart, 156 Fed.Appx. 171, 173 (11th Cir.2005) (citing 20 C.F.R. § 416.924(a); Wilson v. Apfel, 179 F.3d 1276, 1277 n. 1 (11th Cir.1999)). A medically determinable impairment “must result from anatomical, physiological, or psychological abnormalities which can be shown by medically acceptable clinical and laboratory diagnostic techniques.” 20 C.F.R. § 416.908. Further, the impairment “must be established by medical evidence consisting of signs, symptoms, and laboratory findings, not only by [a claimant’s] statement of symptoms.” Id.

Functional equivalence is found if the child’s impairment or combination of impairments results “in ‘marked’7 limitations in two domains of functioning or an ‘extreme’ 8 limitation in one domain ...” 20 C.F.R. § 416.926a(a).

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