Craig v. Social Security Administration, Commissioner
Filing
9
MEMORANDUM OPINION. Signed by Judge J Foy Guin, Jr on 4/16/12. (CTS, )
FILED
2012 Apr-16 AM 09:09
U.S. DISTRICT COURT
N.D. OF ALABAMA
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ALABAMA
SOUTHERN DIVISION
EBONE UNIQUE CRAIG,
Plaintiff,
v.
MICHAEL J. ASTRUE,
Commissioner of the Social
Security Administration,
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) CIVIL ACTION NO. 11-G-2617-S
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Defendant.
MEMORANDUM OPINION
The plaintiff, Ebone Unique Craig, brings this action seeking judicial
review of a final adverse decision of the Commissioner of the Social Security
Administration (the Commissioner) denying her application for Social Security Benefits.
The plaintiff filed an application for Social Security Benefits on November 28, 2007.
Thereafter, plaintiff timely pursued and exhausted the administrative remedies available
before the Commissioner. Accordingly, this case is now ripe for judicial review pursuant
to the provisions of section 205(g) of the Social Security Act (the Act), 42 U.S.C.
§ 405(g).
The sole 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. Bloodsworth v. Heckler, 703 F.2d 1233, 1239 (11th Cir. 1983). To that
end this court “must scrutinize the record as a whole to determine if the decision reached
is reasonable and supported by substantial evidence.” Bloodsworth, at 1239 (citations
omitted). Substantial evidence is “such relevant evidence as a reasonable person would
accept as adequate to support a conclusion.” Bloodsworth, at 1239. The court has
carefully reviewed the entire record in this case and is of the opinion that the
Commissioner's decision is supported by substantial evidence and that proper legal
standards were applied in reaching that decision.1 Accordingly, the decision of the
Commissioner must be affirmed.
A separate order in conformity with this memorandum opinion will be
entered.
DONE and ORDERED 16 April 2012.
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
J. FOY GUIN, JR.
1
In her brief, the plaintiff argues that administrative law judge “failed to fulfill his
duty” of performing a disability determination. [Pl.’s Br. At 8]. However, the ALJ clearly
followed the five-step sequential process and correctly found that the plaintiff did not
have a medically determinable impairment. [R. 49]. Moreover, the plaintiff has made no
showing that the decision of the Commissioner was unreasonable or not supported by
substantial evidence, or that on remand the administrative result would likely change.
This is clearly a weak case for the plaintiff, so weak that the attorney for the plaintiff
should have thoughtfully considered not filing this appeal.
2
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