The union representing the Administrative Law Judges (ALJ’s) who hear Social Security disability cases sued the Social Security Administration. The ALJ’s argued that SSA’s requirement that the judges issue a set number of decisions per year violated the Administrative Procedures Act. Though their lawsuit was framed as a statutory violation, the ALJ’s were after something bigger. Their real complaint was that being pressured to produce 500 to 700 decisions a year violated their judicial independence. That is an interesting idea to ponder. Is it proper for SSA to interfere at all with the manner in which ALJ’s decide their cases? Here, after all, the pressure was only to produce decision, not to grant or deny claimants. The District Court dismissed the case and it went up to the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals. Judge Posner, writing for the 7th Circuit, was not impressed with the ALJs’s arguments. His solution to SSA’s increased demands: Work Harder. Posner did suggest, however, that SSA could interfere with judicial independence. This could occur, for example, if SSA limited the time each hearing could last. No word yet on if the ALJ’s will press their case to the Supreme Court. One thing we know for sure: judges stick together. It’s possible that the Supreme Court might see enough in the facts of this case to take it.
ALJ’s Lose Lawsuit Over Quotas
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