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Judge Posner Addresses Common Errors in
Social Security Cases
By William A. Zolla II
Editorial Board Member
I
n a program sponsored by the CBA’s
Social Security Law Committee,
esteemed Judge Richard Posner of the
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh
Circuit recently addressed a large audi-
ence in Corboy Hall about common errors
committed by administrative law judges
in denying applications for social security
disability benefits. Judge Posner has been
a frequent critic of the Social Security
Administration (SSA) in recent years.
Judge Posner acknowledged that SSA is
understaffed and that administrative law
judges face significant pressure as a result
of enormous caseloads. But Judge Posner
believes that judges handling social security
cases are making several recurring mistakes
in denying claims for benefits, which is
leading to frequent reversals of those deci-
sions by the appellate court. In that regard,
Judge Posner also criticized federal district
court judges for affording too much defer-
ence to the decisions of SSA judges.
Judge Posner contends that SSA judges
are focusing too heavily on whether claim-
ants can perform the routine activities of
daily living, such as housework, instead
of whether they are disabled for purposes
of holding employment. Judge Posner also
believes that SSA judges lack sufficient
understanding of the effects of mental ill-
nesses and the multitude of problems arising
from morbid obesity, all of which must be
considered in evaluating an applicant’s medi-
cal condition. At the same time, he finds that
SSA judges are too often guilty of “playing
doctor,” despite repeated admonitions
against doing so by the appellate courts.
Judge Posner suggests that SSA’s prob-
lems could be alleviated by hiring more
administrative law judges, giving them
better training and education, and no
longer requiring judges to use boilerplate
language in their opinions.
The CBA’s Legislative Committee
meets on the third Thursday of each
month. Formore information, go to
www.chicagobar.org/committees.
12
APRIL/MAY 2015
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