Opinion ID: 778377
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: introduction

Text: 1 42 U.S.C. § 405(g) authorizes district courts to review administrative decisions in Social Security benefits cases. The first two sentences of Section 405(g) provide, in relevant part, that [a]ny individual, after any final decision of the Commissioner of Social Security made after a hearing to which he was a party, irrespective of the amount in controversy, may obtain a review of such decision by a civil action ... brought in the district court of the United States for the judicial district in which the plaintiff resides.... The fourth and sixth sentences of Section 405(g) set forth the exclusive methods by which district courts may remand to the Commissioner of Social Security Administration (Commissioner). Shalala v. Schaefer, 509 U.S. 292, 296, 113 S.Ct. 2625, 125 L.Ed.2d 239 (1993); see also Melkonyan v. Sullivan, 501 U.S. 89, 99-100, 111 S.Ct. 2157, 115 L.Ed.2d 78 (1991) (Congress' explicit delineation in § 405(g) regarding the circumstances under which remands are authorized leads us to conclude that it intended to limit the district court's authority to enter remand orders to these types.). 2 Sentence four provides that [t]he [district] court shall have power to enter, upon the pleadings and transcript of the record, a judgment affirming, modifying, or reversing the decision of the Commissioner of Social Security, with or without remanding the cause for a rehearing.... 42 U.S.C. § 405(g). A sentence four remand has thus been characterized as essentially a determination that the agency erred in some respect in reaching a decision to deny benefits. Jackson v. Chater, 99 F.3d 1086, 1095 (11th Cir.1996). 3 A sentence four remand becomes a final judgment, for purposes of attorneys' fees claims brought pursuant to the EAJA, 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d), upon expiration of the time for appeal. Schaefer, 509 U.S. at 297, 302, 113 S.Ct. 2625; see also Melkonyan, 501 U.S. at 102, 111 S.Ct. 2157; Flores v. Shalala, 49 F.3d 562, 568 (9th Cir.1995). A plaintiff who obtains a sentence four remand is considered a prevailing party for purposes of attorneys' fees. Schaefer, 509 U.S. at 301-02, 113 S.Ct. 2625. This is so even when the case has been remanded for further administrative action. Id. at 297-98, 113 S.Ct. 2625. 4 Sentence six of Section 405(g) provides that the 5 court may, on motion of the Commissioner of Social Security made for good cause shown before the Commissioner files the Commissioner's answer, remand the case to the Commissioner of Social Security for further action by the Commissioner of Social Security, and it may at any time order additional evidence to be taken before the Commissioner of Social Security, but only upon a showing that there is new evidence which is material and that there is good cause for the failure to incorporate such evidence into the record in a prior proceeding; and the Commissioner of Social Security shall, after the case is remanded, and after hearing such additional evidence if so ordered, modify or affirm the Commissioner's findings of fact or the Commissioner's decision, or both, and shall file with the court any such additional and modified findings of fact and decision, and a transcript of the additional record and testimony upon which the Commissioner's action in modifying or affirming was based. 6 42 U.S.C. § 405(g). 7 Sentence six remands may be ordered in only two situations: where the Commissioner requests a remand before answering the complaint, or where new, material evidence is adduced that was for good cause not presented before the agency. Schaefer, 509 U.S. at 297 n. 2, 113 S.Ct. 2625. Unlike sentence four remands, sentence six remands do not constitute final judgments. Rather, [i]n sentence six cases, the filing period does not begin until after the postremand proceedings are completed, the Commissioner returns to court, the court enters a final judgment, and the appeal period runs. Melkonyan, 501 U.S. at 102, 111 S.Ct. 2157.