Stevenson v. Barnhart

Filing 43

USCA MEMORANDUM, Because Stevenson's appeal presents no claims for which this court can provide relief, we DISMISS the appeal as moot. (hdj, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 3/5/2009)

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F IL E D
N O T FOR PUBLICATION U N IT E D STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
MAR 02 2009
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
U . S . C O U R T OF APPE A L S

BEVERLY J. STEVENSON, Plaintiff - Appellant, v.

N o . 07-16320 D .C . No. CV-06-05422-JSW

M EM O RA ND UM * M I C H A E L J. ASTRUE, Commissioner, S o cial Security Administration, Defendant - Appellee.

A p p e al from the United States District Court fo r the Northern District of California Jeffrey S. White, District Judge, Presiding S u b m itted February 13, 2009 ** San Francisco, California B efo re: CANBY, GOULD and BYBEE, Circuit Judges. B ev erly Stevenson appeals the dismissal of her complaint challenging the S o cial Security Administration's ("SSA") delay in the processing of her claim for

This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent ex cep t as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3. The panel unanimously finds this case suitable for decision without oral arg u m en t. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2).
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d isab ility benefits. She also appeals the dismissal of her claim for mandamus r e lie f . We lack jurisdiction because Stevenson's personal interest in the litigation h as disappeared, and thus the case is moot. See Dufresne v. Veneman, 114 F.3d 9 5 2 , 954-55 (9th Cir. 1997). Stevenson's petition to the district court for d eclarato ry, injunctive or mandamus relief sought to remedy SSA's delay in ad ju d icatin g her motion for reconsideration. She sought an order compelling p r o m p t consideration of her motion for reconsideration, a prompt scheduling of a h earin g before an administrative law judge if reconsideration was denied, and a p r o m p t review by the Appeals Council of the Administrative Law Judge's ("ALJ") d ecisio n . Since the initiation of this lawsuit, all of those events have occurred, p ro m p tly or not. The SSA reconsidered the initial denial of benefits, an ALJ rev iew ed that decision, an Appeals Council reviewed the ALJ's decision and rem an d ed the claim, and Stevenson will have an additional hearing before the ALJ. Because her suit is one for declaratory and injunctive relief, the question of m o o tn ess is whether this change in circumstances prevents any meaningful relief. Gator.com Corp. v. L.L. Bean Inc., 398 F.3d 1125, 1129 (9th Cir. 2005) (en banc).

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S te v e n s o n 's claim that the administrative process has moved at a glacial p a c e presents no opportunity for this court to grant meaningful relief. To declare th a t undue delay has occurred accomplishes nothing; the SSA has since done that w h ic h Stevenson alleges it delayed doing. Although Stevenson now opines that h er upcoming hearing may be delayed, that speculation relates to no claim p r e se n te d by her petition in the district court. Moreover, any relief based on such sp ecu latio n would require an advisory opinion, in excess of our jurisdiction. Union Pac. R.R. v. Nev. Power Co., 950 F.2d 1429, 1434 (9th Cir. 1991) (holding th at the court would not make rulings dependent on speculation as to what might h a p p e n between the parties in further proceedings). B e ca u s e Stevenson's appeal presents no claims for which this court can p r o v id e relief, we DISMISS the appeal as moot.

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