National Black Lung Association Submits SCOTUS Brief Asking Court Not to Worsen Delays in Black Lung Cases
On Monday, April 23, 2018, the Supreme Court will hear argument in a case that could have serious consequences for current and future recipients of federal black lung benefits. In Lucia v. Securities and Exchange Commission, the petitioners asked the Court to determine whether administrative law judges (ALJs) of the Securities and Exchange Commission are “officers of the United States” within the meaning of the Appointments Clause of the U.S. Constitution.
Although black lung has little to do with the Securities and Exchange Commission, a ruling that the SEC’s use of administrative law judges was constitutionally defective could create problems for black lung benefit claimants, because of the integral role that ALJs play in the adjudication of claims under the Black Lung Benefits Act. As a result, the Appalachian Citizens’ Law Center has submitted an amicus curiae brief to the court on behalf of the National Black Lung Association.
As we note in our brief,
If the Court finds a constitutional violation in this case, the Court’s remedial determination could dramatically affect coal miners disabled by black lung and their widows. ALJs within the Department of Labor are the primary adjudicators in the black lung benefits system. At a time when black lung disease is resurgent, the Department of Labor’s Office of Administrative Law Judges is severely backlogged with claimants waiting years for routine decisions. If the Court were to hold that past decisions by ALJs are void, this could require hundreds of remands back to the agency’s Office of Administrative Law Judges, hobbling efforts to address the backlog and leaving vulnerable miners and their families who depend on such benefits.
Read the full brief here: https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/17/17-130/41964/20180402155006946_36183%20pdf%20Phillips.pdf
One Response to “National Black Lung Association Submits SCOTUS Brief Asking Court Not to Worsen Delays in Black Lung Cases”
Coal miner worked long and hard in dangerous conditions for their family’s, the should be taken care of by our government.
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