Getty et al v. Commissioner of Social Security

Filing 16

OPINION AND ORDER adopting 15 Report and Recommendations. The Decision of the Commissioner of Social Security is affirmed. The Clerk shall enter judgment accordingly and close the file. Signed by Judge John E. Steele on 10/12/2011. (RKR)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
MIDDLE DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
FORT MYERS DIVISION
REBECCA JO GETTY, on behalf of MARY
JO SHEA,
Plaintiff,
vs.

Case No.

2:10-cv-725-FtM-29SPC

MICHAEL J. ASTRUE, Commissioner of
Social Security,
Defendant.
___________________________________
OPINION AND ORDER
This

matter

is

before

the

Court

on

consideration

of

Magistrate Judge Sheri Polster Chappell’s Report and Recommendation
(Doc. #15), filed on September 21, 2011, recommending that the
Commissioner’s decision to deny social security disability benefits
be affirmed.

No objections have been filed, and the time to do so

has expired.
The Court reviews the Commissioner’s decision to determine if
it is supported by substantial evidence and based upon proper legal
standards.

Crawford v. Comm’r of Soc. Sec., 363 F.3d 1155, 1158

(11th Cir. 2004).

Substantial evidence is more than a scintilla

but less than a preponderance, and is such relevant evidence as a
reasonable person would accept as adequate to support a conclusion.
Moore v. Barnhart, 405 F.3d 1208, 1211 (11th Cir. 2005); Crawford,
363 F.3d at 1158.

Even if the evidence preponderates against the

Commissioner’s findings, the Court must affirm if the decision

reached is supported by substantial evidence.

Crawford, 363 F.3d

at 1158-59. The Court does not decide facts anew, make credibility
judgments, reweigh the evidence, or substitute its judgment for
that of the Commissioner.

Moore, 405 F.3d at 1211; Dyer v.

Barnhart, 395 F.3d 1206, 1210 (11th Cir. 2005).

The magistrate

judge, district judge and appellate judges all apply the same legal
standards to the review of the Commissioner’s decision.

Dyer, 395

F.3d at 1210; Shinn v. Comm’r of Soc. Sec., 391 F.3d 1276, 1282
(11th Cir. 2004); Phillips v. Barnhart, 357 F.3d 1232, 1240 n.8
(11th Cir. 2004). After an independent review of the record (Doc.
#11), the Court agrees with the findings and recommendations in the
Report and Recommendation.
Accordingly, it is now
ORDERED:
1.

The Report and Recommendation (Doc. #15) is accepted and

adopted by the Court.
2.

The Decision of the Commissioner of Social Security is

AFFIRMED.
3.

The Clerk of the Court shall enter judgment accordingly

and close the file.
DONE AND ORDERED at Fort Myers, Florida, this
October, 2011.

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12th

day of

Copies:
Hon. Sheri Polster Chappell
U.S. Magistrate Judge
Counsel of Record

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