Source: http://al.findacase.com/research/wfrmDocViewer.aspx/xq/fac.20180313_0000248.NAL.htm/qx
Timestamp: 2019-04-26 00:46:25+00:00

Document:
COMMISSIONER OF SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION, Defendant.
Plaintiff Tina Turney (“Turney”) seeks review, pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 405(g), § 205(g) of the Social Security Act, of a final decision of the Commissioner of the Social Security Administration (“Commissioner”), denying her application for Supplemental Security Income (“SSI”). (Doc. 1). Turney timely pursued and exhausted her administrative remedies. This case is therefore ripe for review under 42 U.S.C. §§ 405(g), 1383(c)(3). The undersigned has carefully considered the record and, for the reasons stated below, the Commissioner's decision is AFFIRMED.
Turney filed her application for SSI on September 16, 2013, alleging she was unable to work. (Tr. 58). The Agency initially denied Turney's application (tr. 76-80), and Turney requested a hearing where she appeared on November 17, 2015 (tr. 35-57). After the hearing, the Administrative Law Judge (“ALJ”) denied Turney's claim on December 15, 2015. (Tr. 13-28). Turney sought review by the Appeals Council, but it declined her request on October 20, 2016. (Tr. 1-3). On that date, the ALJ's decision became the final decision of the Commissioner. On December 21, 2016, Turney initiated this action. (See doc. 1).
Turney was forty-three years old at the time of the ALJ's decision. (Tr. 28, 40). She has a limited education (eleventh grade) and previously worked as a sewing machine operator, home assistant, cashier/checker, short order cook, and poultry team laborer. (Tr. 42, 53-54). Turney alleged disability based on high blood pressure, leg and feet swelling, diabetes, arm numbness, back pain, bipolar disorder, severe anxiety, restless leg syndrome, fibromyalgia, chronic asthma, insomnia, high cholesterol, severe arthritis, and severe acid reflux. (Tr. 194).
The court's review of the Commissioner's decision is narrowly circumscribed. The function of this Court is to determine whether the decision of the Commissioner is supported by substantial evidence and whether proper legal standards were applied. Richardson v. Perales, 402 U.S. 389, 390 (1971); Wilson v. Barnhart, 284 F.3d 1219, 1221 (11th Cir. 2002). This Court must “scrutinize the record as a whole to determine if the decision reached is reasonable and supported by substantial evidence.” Bloodsworth v. Heckler, 703 F.2d 1233, 1239 (11th Cir. 1983). Substantial evidence is “such relevant evidence as a reasonable person would accept as adequate to support a conclusion.” Id. It is “more than a scintilla, but less than a preponderance.” Id.
This Court must uphold factual findings supported by substantial evidence. “Substantial evidence may even exist contrary to the findings of the ALJ, and [the reviewing court] may have taken a different view of it as a factfinder. Yet, if there is substantially supportive evidence, the findings cannot be overturned.” Barron v. Sullivan, 924 F.2d 227, 230 (11th Cir. 1991). However, the Court reviews the ALJ's legal conclusions de novo because no presumption of validity attaches to the ALJ's determination of the proper legal standards to be applied. Davis v. Shalala, 985 F.2d 528, 531 (11th Cir. 1993). If the court finds an error in the ALJ's application of the law, or if the ALJ fails to provide the court with sufficient reasoning for determining the proper legal analysis has been conducted, it must reverse the ALJ's decision. Cornelius v. Sullivan, 936 F.2d 1143, 1145-46 (11th Cir. 1991).
To qualify for disability benefits and establish his or her entitlement for a period of disability, a claimant must be disabled as defined by the Social Security Act and the Regulations promulgated thereunder. The Regulations define “disabled” as “the inability to do any substantial gainful activity by reason of any medically determinable physical or mental impairment which can be expected to result in death or which has lasted or can be expected to last for a continuous period of not less than twelve (12) months.” 20 C.F.R. § 404.1505(a). To establish entitlement to disability benefits, a claimant must provide evidence of a “physical or mental impairment” which “must result from anatomical, physiological, or psychological abnormalities which can be shown by medically acceptable clinical and laboratory diagnostic techniques.” 20 C.F.R. § 404.1508.

References: § 405
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 § 404
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