Smith v. Colvin

Filing 17

MEMORANDUM (Order to follow as separate docket entry).Signed by Honorable Malachy E Mannion on 4/12/17. (bs)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
MIDDLE DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA
STACEY L. SMITH,

:

Plaintiff

:

v.

CIVIL ACTION NO. 3:16-0164

:

:
NANCY A. BERRYHILL,1
Commissioner of Social Security,
:
Defendant
:

(MANNION, D.J.)
(COHN, M.J.)

MEMORANDUM
Pending before the court is the March 27, 2017 report of Judge Gerald
B. Cohn, which recommends that the final decision of the Commissioner
denying the plaintiff’s claim for disability insurance benefits (“DIB”) under Title
II of the Social Security Act be affirmed and that the case be closed. (Doc.
16). Neither the Commissioner nor the plaintiff have filed any objections to
Judge Cohn’s report. The time within which objections to the report were due
has expired.
Where no objection is made to a report and recommendation, the court
should, as a matter of good practice, “satisfy itself that there is no clear error
on the face of the record in order to accept the recommendation.”
Fed.R.Civ.P. 72(b), advisory committee notes; see also Univac Dental Co. v.
Dentsply Intern., Inc., 702 F.Supp.2d 465, 469 (2010) (citing Henderson v.
1

On January 23, 2017, Nancy A. Berryhill became the Acting
Commissioner of Social Security. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure
25(d), Nancy A. Berryhill is substituted for Carolyn W. Colvin, Acting
Commissioner of Social Security, as the defendant in this suit.

Carlson, 812 F.2d 874, 878 (3d Cir. 1987) (explaining judges should give
some review to every Report and Recommendation)). Nevertheless, whether
timely objections are made or not, the district court may accept, not accept or
modify, in whole or in part, the findings or recommendations made by the
magistrate judge. 28 U.S.C. §636(b)(1); Local Rule 72.31.
Plaintiff alleged that she was disabled due to degenerative disc disease
and depression. The court has reviewed all of the reasons presented by
Judge Cohn for recommending that the plaintiff’s appeal of the
Commissioner’s decision denying her claim for DIB benefits, (Doc. 1), be
denied. Because the court agrees with the sound reasoning that led Judge
Cohn to the conclusions in his report, including his conclusion that substantial
evidence supported the Commissioner’s finding that plaintiff has the residual
functional capacity to perform light work with limitations, (Doc. 16 at 41), and
finds no clear error on the face of the record, the court will adopt the report in
its entirety. An appropriate order shall issue.

s/ Malachy E. Mannion
MALACHY E. MANNION
United States District Judge

Date: April 12, 2017
O:\Mannion\shared\MEMORANDA - DJ\CIVIL MEMORANDA\2016 MEMORANDA\16-0164-01.wpd

2