U.S. Challenges Courts on Disabilities
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In a move that could delay or deny benefits for tens of thousands of people, the Social Security Administration has told its judges that they should, in most cases, disregard Federal court precedents if those rulings conflict with agency policies. The order, issued as the agency faces a huge backlog of disputed claims, has drawn protests from Federal courts, members of Congress and agency employees. Moreover, it is being compared to positions taken in the early 1980’s by the Reagan Administration, which said it was bound only by Supreme Court decisions and did not have to ”acquiesce” in decisions of lower courts that contradicted its reading of the Social Security law. Democrats denounced the Reagan Administration’s practice as lawless, and the Administration took a more moderate position after Congress made clear that it disapproved of the practice. This week, the House Ways and Means Committee will hold a hearing to examine the practice. The Social Security agency recently told its administrative law judges, who rule on claims for benefits, that they might face remedial training and ”disciplinary action” if they did not follow the agency’s policies or if their productivity was considered too low. ”An administrative law judge is bound to follow agency policy even if, in the administrative law judge’s opinion, the policy is contrary to law,” the agency said in a confidential memorandum to its judges. A copy of the memorandum was obtained from a Social Security employee who disagrees with its conclusions. More : query.nytimes.com |