Davis v. The Social Security Administration
- Ronnie Abrams
- 1:24-cv-02437
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
Davis v. Social Security Administration: Judge Abrams adopted the report, granted summary judgment to the SSA, and remanded Davis’s benefits request for a response.
Maxine Angella Davis and the Social Security Administration; Davis’s SSI-benefit reconsideration request was remanded to the agency for a response.
What happened
Maxine Angella Davis, representing herself, asked the court to review the Social Security Administration’s reduction of her Supplemental Security Income benefits. The agency responded with a motion to dismiss or, alternatively, for summary judgment.
A magistrate judge recommended converting the dismissal motion into a summary-judgment motion and granting it. The magistrate judge also found that the agency had not responded to Davis’s January 15, 2024 request for reconsideration and recommended sending that matter back to the agency for a response. Neither side timely objected.
In Davis v. The Social Security Administration, Judge Ronnie Abrams found no clear error, adopted the report in full, converted the motion to dismiss into a motion for summary judgment, and granted that motion. The court also remanded the matter to the agency to respond to Davis’s reconsideration request and directed the clerk to close the case.
The detailed version
- Davis v. The Social Security Administration · No. 1:24-cv-02437
- Ronnie Abrams
- Jan. 2, 2025
Background
Maxine Angella Davis filed the action seeking judicial review of the Social Security Administration’s determination reducing her Supplemental Security Income benefits. Davis proceeded without a lawyer. The Social Security Administration filed a motion to dismiss or, alternatively, for summary judgment, which asks the court to decide the case based on the record when there is no genuine dispute requiring a trial.
The case was referred to Magistrate Judge Aaron for a report and recommendation. Judge Aaron recommended that the motion to dismiss be converted to a motion for summary judgment and that the motion be granted. Judge Aaron also determined that the Social Security Administration had failed to respond to Davis’s January 15, 2024 Request for Reconsideration concerning the reduction of her benefits. The report therefore recommended remanding the matter to the agency with directions to respond to that request.
Court’s Review
Neither party timely objected to the report. Judge Abrams therefore reviewed it for clear error, meaning an obvious mistake in the record. The court found no error and adopted the report in its entirety.
Ruling
The court ordered that the Social Security Administration’s motion to dismiss be converted to a motion for summary judgment and granted that motion. Consistent with the recommendation, the court also remanded the matter to the Social Security Administration to respond to Davis’s January 15, 2024 Request for Reconsideration. The clerk was directed to terminate the pending motion and close the case.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.