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Thursday, March 10, 2011
Ind. Courts - Independent research by judges
The ILB has had a number of entries on the question of independent research by judges, including this one from July 4, 2009 and particularly this one from Aug. 20, 2009.
These came to mind today when a reader pointed to this Feb. 23, 2011 New Jersey federal district court decision where:
[Plaintiff appeals] the Commissioner of Social Security's final decision that she is not disabled under Title II, 42 U.S.C. ยง 1614(a)(3)(A), of the Social Security Act.The judge concluded:
Furthermore, it is difficult to ascertain what evidence the ALJ rejected and what evidence he relied on in making his decision. * * * Consequently, the ALJ must provide a more developed finding, clearly stating his reasons for concluding that Purvis is not credible.[4] * * *For the foregoing reasons, the ALJ's decision is REMANDED for a more developed finding. The ALJ is directed to address Plaintiff's subjective complaints and explain why he does not find them credible.
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[4] Although the Court remands the ALJ's decision for a more detailed finding, it notes that in the course of its own research, it discovered one profile picture on what is believed to be Plaintiff's Facebook page where she appears to be smoking. Profile Pictures by Theresa Purvis, Facebook, http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/photo.php?fbid=XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX&set=a.XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX.8034.1000017 16287336&theater (last visited Feb. 16, 2011). If accurately depicted, Plaintiff's credibility is justifiably suspect.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on March 10, 2011 10:12 AM
Posted to Indiana Courts