Opinion ID: 427234
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: facts

Text: 4 Arthur Grey married Mozell, nee Darsey, in Opelika, Alabama, on July 23, 1921. Mozell bore him a daughter, Ann Elizabeth, in 1922, and the couple continued to reside in Opelika for about seven years from the time of their marriage, although Arthur's job as an itinerant mason took him, with his father, to various cities in the South. Mozell and Ann Elizabeth have both testified that around 1928, while on a job in Atlanta, Arthur committed a crime (apparently aggravated assault) and that he was more or less on the run from the police thereafter, but returned periodically to visit his family. The Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) found that he finally deserted Mozell and passed beyond her ken about 1931, and we see no reason to disturb that finding. 5 Arthur then apparently fled to the Great Lakes area. His movements from 1931 to 1936 are somewhat obscure. The SSA, however, learned from Margaret, whom Arthur married in 1961, that he told her that he had lived in Milwaukee, Cleveland, and Detroit before moving to Chicago. 6 From 1936 until his retirement in 1966, Arthur was continuously employed by the Midland Ross Division of National Casting in Cicero, Illinois, which is a suburb of Chicago and lies in Cook County. In a statement annexed to his claim for retirement benefits in 1966, he stated that he had married a Mary Holt in Chicago in 1942. (No record of this marriage could be found, and Ms. Holt has not appeared.) Arthur returned once to Alabama during this period, apparently in 1947, to attend his father's funeral. He saw both Mozell and Ann Elizabeth at the funeral and did not mention a divorce, either completed or contemplated, to either of them. 7 In 1954, Arthur met Margaret Rushing and in 1961 went through a ceremonial marriage with her in Chicago, which was evidenced by a certificate but not recorded with the county. At some undisclosed point in their acquaintance, according to Margaret's evidence, Arthur told her he divorced somebody in Detroit M[ichigan]. On retirement in 1966, Arthur listed Margaret as his wife on his application for social security benefits, leaving blank several lines that requested information about any previous marriages. In 1974, Arthur and Margaret moved to Rockford, Illinois, where they lived until Arthur's death in 1977. 8 Mozell, meanwhile, lived with her daughter in Opelika, in continuous contact with Arthur's brother and eldest sister. In 1955, Ann Elizabeth moved to Brooklyn, New York, where Mozell followed her two years later. Mozell and Ann Elizabeth have lived in Brooklyn, with the knowledge of Arthur's relatives, ever since. (When Arthur wanted to get in touch with Ann Elizabeth in 1975, he was able to obtain her address at once from Julia Jones, his sister in Milwaukee, who had in turn gotten it from one Kathyrin--presumably the sister still in Alabama.) Mozell has repeatedly stated, without contradiction and with the support of Ann Elizabeth, that she was never apprised of any divorce proceedings against her, that she never divorced Arthur, and that she never remarried. 9 In the summer of 1976, slightly over a year before his death, Arthur visited his sister, Julia Jones. Julia described this visit in a contemporaneous letter to Mozell: 10 Brother call 2 Sundes ago wont to know what your name was before you all got married wont to know did you ever married again he said he hafter get a dovice [?] from you. [Spelling and punctuation reproduced from original.] 11 Julia repeated this account in substance in answer to interrogatories in 1980, and added her belief that Arthur had never divorced Mozell. She maintained this opinion despite the fact that Arthur had mentioned [to Julia] that he had divorced Mozell, but he never went into specifics. In August of 1976, Margaret wrote to Ann Elizabeth. She did not mention the subject of divorce in that letter, but did remark that Arthur had asked Julia for Mozell's maiden name. 12 Arthur died in Rockford, Illinois, on October 28, 1977. On November 3, 1977, Margaret applied for and began receiving widow's insurance benefits. Thereafter, on November 13, 1978, Mozell applied for widow's insurance benefits. After Mozell had filed her claim for widow's benefits, the SSA, acting on its information from Margaret, searched or caused to be searched the divorce records for the counties containing Opelika, Milwaukee, Cleveland, Detroit, Chicago and Cicero, and the two towns in which Arthur lived after his retirement. In addition, the SSA commissioned a search of the records of Lake County, Indiana, which is just across the state line from Chicago. None of these searches located any record of a divorce between Arthur and Mozell. 13 Mozell's application was denied on September 24, 1979, on the ground that the presumption indulged by Illinois law in favor of the validity of Arthur's marriage to Margaret had not been rebutted. On November 16, 1979, Mozell requested reconsideration of her application, contending that she had never been divorced from Arthur. Upon reconsideration, the denial of benefits was affirmed on the grounds that Mozell had failed to account for Arthur's whereabouts after he left her, and he was therefore presumed to have divorced her before he married Margaret. 14 Mozell thereafter sought and secured a hearing before an Administrative Law Judge. Testimony was introduced at the hearing that Mozell had neither instituted divorce proceedings against Arthur nor heard of any such proceedings having been instituted by him. Evidence also was introduced showing negative results of searches through divorce records in those places where Arthur was known or believed to have resided. The Administrative Law Judge upheld the denial of Mozell's application on the ground that Mozell's proof and the evidence in the record [did] not reasonably rebut the presumption that there existed no legal impediament [sic] at the time of [Arthur's] marriage to Margaret Grey, and that Arthur obtained a divorce in the marriage between himself and Mozell Grey sometime between 1931 and August 11, 1961. 2 On July 12, 1981, the ALJ's decision became final when it was approved by the Appeals Council. 15 Mozell then sought review in the Eastern District of New York pursuant to Sec. 205(g) of the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. Sec. 405(g). On July 23, 1982, Judge Bramwell granted the Secretary's motion for judgment on the pleadings, and this appeal followed. 16 The Secretary's ruling in favor of Margaret may not be overturned unless it is based on legal error or is not supported by substantial evidence. Berry v. Schweiker, 675 F.2d 464, 467 (2d Cir.1982). We conclude that the administrative decision was defective in both respects. 17 Under Sec. 216(h)(1)(A) of the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. Sec. 416(h)(1)(A), appellant's status as Arthur's widow must be determined by the law of Illinois, the State in which Arthur was domiciled at the time of his death. Steele v. Richardson, 472 F.2d 49, 51 (2d Cir.1972). Under Illinois law, where there are conflicting marriages, the second marriage is to be presumed valid on the theory that the twice-married spouse is entitled to a presumption of innocence of the crime of bigamy. Belluomini v. Belluomini, 73 Ill.App.3d 836, 841, 30 Ill.Dec. 14, 18, 392 N.E.2d 669, 673 (1979). 3 To support that master presumption, Illinois law provides that [w]here the celebration of a marriage is shown and also a prior marriage, the death or divorce of the former spouse will be presumed, and the burden of proof is on the party asserting the invalidity of the last marriage. Baer v. DeBerry, 31 Ill.App.2d 86, 89, 175 N.E.2d 673, 674-75 (1961); Winter v. Dibble, 251 Ill. 200, 206, 95 N.E. 1093, 1095 (1911). 18 In ruling against Mozell, the ALJ, whose determination became the final decision of the Secretary upon approval by the SSA Appeals Council, implicitly exaggerated the rigor of the Illinois rule that a divorce will be presumed in order to sustain the validity of the second marriage. An administrative determination by the SSA cannot be upheld when based on an erroneous view of the law that improperly disregards highly probative evidence. Marcus v. Califano, 615 F.2d 23, 27 (2d Cir.1979). The ALJ, sitting in Brooklyn, cited no precedents to support his construction and application of Illinois law. His surprising failure even to mention in his decision the extensive checks of divorce records suggests, to the extent that the administrative analysis is penetrable at all, that the ALJ simply followed the interpretation of Illinois law adopted by the SSA Reconsideration Reviewer on the case: that the presumption in favor of a legally obtained divorce could be rebutted only by an exhaustive record search of all jurisdictions in which an absconding spouse might conceivably have obtained such a divorce. The district court's discussion of Patton v. Railroad Retirement Board, 313 F.2d 434 (5th Cir.1963) (applying Illinois law), and Davis v. Califano, 603 F.2d 618 (7th Cir.1979) (same), clearly indicates that it adopted the same extreme view of Illinois law as placing a virtually insurmountable burden of negative proof on the party alleging nondivorce. 19 Were the Illinois rule in fact as unyielding in its defense of the presumption of divorce as the ALJ and district court appear to believe, it would be difficult to justify on grounds of common sense and fairness. Maintaining such a presumption even when a thorough search has uncovered no record of divorce in any jurisdiction in which the absconding spouse would have been likely to file requires one to believe that men who abandon their wives and flee to unknown places will then undertake the trouble and expense of bringing secret divorce proceedings, the decrees from which would be of highly doubtful validity. 4 It also requires one to overlook the inequities such a virtually irrebuttable presumption would work. The Illinois Supreme Court itself long ago painted as striking a picture of those equities as one could hope to find: 20 She, it may be said, remains true to her marriage vows. He deserts her, without cause, goes to a foreign country, and contracts a second, void marriage. She may be, and generally is, in such a case, powerless to prove that he had not, at some time, in some jurisdiction, obtained a divorce. Shall she, upon a mere presumption of his innocence, be deprived of all her rights as a wife or widow because she cannot produce such negative proof? We do not think a fair construction of our decisions could logically lead to such a result.... 21 Suppose, as in this case she did, the wife proves her marriage; that she in no way violated her marriage obligations; that her husband, without cause, deserted her; that she had no knowledge of his second marriage until after his death; that she had no personal knowledge of his having obtained a divorce, and her marriage was never dissolved in the jurisdiction where she lived when he deserted her, and where she continued to live to the time of his death. Would not these facts, in the absence of all counter testimony, afford reasonable ground for presuming that no divorce was obtained? 22 Cole v. Cole, 153 Ill. 585, 587-88, 38 N.E. 703, 704 (1894). 23 But Illinois courts have in fact used a considerably more flexible and fact-specific standard of proof in cases involving the presumption of divorce. 5 The Supreme Court of Illinois has long recognized that: 24 [a]lthough the responsibility [is] upon [parties challenging marriages] of proving the negative contention that a divorce ha[s] not been obtained ... yet it is well settled that a party is not required to make plenary proof of a negative averment. It is enough that he introduces such evidence as, in the absence of all counter testimony, will afford reasonable ground for presuming that the allegation is true, and, when this is done, the onus probandi will be thrown on his adversary. 25 Schmisseur v. Beatrie, 147 Ill. 210, 217, 35 N.E. 525, 527 (1893), quoted in Cole v. Cole, 153 Ill. 585, 587, 38 N.E. 703, 704 (1894), and in In re Estate of Dedmore, 257 Ill.App. 519, 522-23 (1930); accord Sparling v. Industrial Commission, 48 Ill.2d 332, 336, 270 N.E.2d 411, 413 (1971) ([T]he presumption may be rebutted by evidence which, standing alone, affords reasonable grounds for concluding that no divorce has been secured.); In re Estate of Panico, 268 Ill.App. 585, 591 (1932) ([E]vidence which renders the existence of the negative probable is sufficient, in the absence of proof to the contrary.). The ALJ, in failing even to advert to the heroic searches that the SSA made in the divorce records of seven states, which evidence would be probative of, if not compel, a finding of rebuttal under a proper reading of Illinois law, 6 implicitly rejected that proper reading in favor of the erroneous interpretation given by the SSA reviewer. This failure was an error of law that alone would mandate reversal and remand for a redetermination in light of proper legal standards. 26 No such remand is needed in this case, however, for a recital of the undisputed evidence shows that the Secretary's factual conclusion is not supported by substantial evidence. The statutory formula that we must affirm the Secretary's findings of facts if they are supported by substantial evidence, 42 U.S.C. Sec. 405(g) (Supp. V 1981), requires nevertheless that there be  'more than a mere scintilla. It means such relevant evidence as a reasonable mind might accept as adequate to support a conclusion.'  Richardson v. Perales, 402 U.S. 389, 401, 91 S.Ct. 1420, 1427, 28 L.Ed.2d 842 (1971) (quoting Consolidated Edison Co. v. NLRB, 305 U.S. 197, 229, 59 S.Ct. 206, 217, 83 L.Ed. 126 (1938)). It is well established, moreover, that a reviewing court must consider the record as a whole, not seize upon a specific quantum of evidence that, taken in isolation, might sustain the administrative decision. Day v. Weinberger, 522 F.2d 1154, 1156 (9th Cir.1975) (citing Universal Camera Corp. v. NLRB, 340 U.S. 474, 487-88, 71 S.Ct. 456, 463-65, 95 L.Ed. 456 (1951)); accord Flores v. Department of Health, Education and Welfare, 465 F.Supp. 317, 320 (S.D.N.Y.1978). Our responsibility is always to ensure that a claim has been fairly evaluated, e.g., Proctor v. Schweiker, 526 F.Supp. 70, 73-74 (D.Md.1981), and has warrant in the record, viewing that record as a whole, Boyd v. Folsom, 257 F.2d 778, 781 (3d Cir.1958) (citing Universal Camera, supra ). 27 Exercising that responsibility in this case, we conclude that the Secretary, in light of available evidence, could not reasonably have determined that Mozell failed to sustain her burden of proof under Illinois law. The district court, while affirming the administrative decision, acknowledged that the evidence tends to show that Arthur never divorced Mozell. That understates the case. In the face of the evidence adduced, it is not merely probable that Arthur never obtained a divorce--a conclusion that would itself be sufficient to rebut the contrary presumption under Illinois law; it is established to a virtual certainty, on at least three separate grounds. 28 First, record searches of every jurisdiction in which Arthur would have been likely to seek a divorce have turned up no evidence whatsoever of such a divorce. 7 Arthur's whereabouts from 1936 to the time of his death are established by his unbroken employment at a single firm in Cook County for thirty years, followed by his successive moves with Margaret after retirement. All of the relevant counties--plus the county in Indiana nearest to Chicago--have been searched for records of any divorce involving Arthur, with uniformly negative results. For the years 1931 to 1936, Arthur told Margaret he had lived in three cities in the Great Lakes region; there is no evidence in the record to suggest that he lived anywhere else before settling down in Chicago. Margaret reported that information to the SSA, and these localities too have been searched for divorce proceedings. 8 In addition, a record search was done in the Alabama county containing Opelika, the town in which Mozell resided for most of the period from Arthur's departure until his marriage to Margaret. 29 The Illinois courts direct, sensibly enough, that a search for a divorce decree should be focused where such decree should be found, if it existed at all, and accept negative results as sufficient rebuttal of the presumption. Panico, supra, 268 Ill.App. at 591; accord Dedmore, supra, 257 Ill.App. at 524 (varying the quotation slightly). The Illinois Supreme Court, in a seminal case involving a couple who had lived continuously in one county, held a search of that county's records to be sufficient to rebut the presumption of divorce, describing that jurisdiction as the one in which divorce proceedings, if there had been any, would be most naturally looked for. Schmisseur v. Beatrie, supra, 147 Ill. at 218, 35 N.E. at 527 (emphasis added). That requirement seems amply met by the scope of the searches undertaken in this case. 9 Every reasonable effort has been made to track Arthur, and his movements have been followed to the fullest extent possible. In the absence of some affirmative reason to believe in the existence of a divorce, no sensible law should require more, and the law of Illinois does not. 10 30 Against this uniform silence in the records, there is only one piece of evidence pointing to a place in which Arthur might have dissolved his marriage to Mozell: Margaret's report that Arthur told her that he had divorced somebody in Detroit. Because this assertion runs up against the fact that no record of divorce was found in Detroit, however, it may actually tell in Mozell's favor. The Seventh Circuit, applying Illinois law, took the view that the probative value of negative searches was bolstered by testimony from a second wife that her husband was divorced from his first wife in a jurisdiction whose records were fruitlessly searched. Davis v. Califano, 603 F.2d 618, 625 (7th Cir.1979). In view of all the facts, the only reasonable inference to be drawn is that no divorce record was found because there was none to be found. 11 31 The second reason for thinking Arthur never divorced Mozell lies in the evidence given by Julia Jones, Arthur's sister. On some unspecified date, he told her that he had been divorced, but did not go into specifics. In 1976, only a year before his death, Arthur said to her that he still needed to get a divorce from Mozell. The ALJ, presumably seizing upon the phrase in Julia's answers to interrogatories in which she avowed that she had only a belief that Arthur had never divorced Mozell, treated her entire testimony as a mere statement of belief. Yet the ALJ himself noted that her 1976 letter, about which she was questioned, suggests that the claimant may not have been divorced. Thus, we have an uncontradicted report of an unequivocal statement by Arthur that, moreover, constituted an admission against interest by him. The natural inclination to credit that statement is further supported by Margaret's letter to Ann Elizabeth inquiring about Mozell's maiden name. The ALJ found that Margaret's letter established only a familial interest, but it is hard to see what could have prompted this inquiry out of the blue except the reason given by Arthur when he solicited the same information from Julia: that he needed it in order to obtain a divorce. Finally, it is not inconsequential that Julia herself resolved the conflicting statements she had received from her brother in favor of a belief that there had been no divorce. 32 Third, Mozell resided in only two places during the fifty-six years in which she held to her marital pledge, both of which addresses were known to Arthur's family, and in all likelihood to Arthur himself. Mozell's testimony that she was never served with divorce papers, even though at every point in time Arthur either knew or could have readily ascertained her address through his family network, stands uncontradicted and was apparently accepted as fact by the ALJ. See supra note 2. The latest pronouncement of the Illinois Supreme Court on the presumption of divorce approved a finding of nondivorce on the ground, among others, that when a wife whose address is known to the husband receives no summons for a divorce action, a court can infer that no divorce was obtained. Sparling v. Industrial Commission, supra, 48 Ill.2d at 337, 370 N.E.2d at 414 (1971); see also Cole v. Cole, supra, 153 Ill. at 588, 38 N.E. at 704. It should be noted that under these circumstances, any divorce that Arthur obtained would have been void as a violation of the requirements of due process. 12 But here we do not need to reach a question of constitutional due process dimensions. By the standards of Illinois common law, common sense, and common justice alike, the presumption that Arthur sought and obtained a divorce must be held to be amply rebutted by substantial proof that Arthur was never divorced--validly or invalidly--from Mozell. 33 Under Illinois law, a presumption, once rebutted, vanishes entirely from a case. Diederich v. Walters, 65 Ill.2d 95, 100-02, 2 Ill.Dec. 685, 688-89, 357 N.E.2d 1128, 1131-32 (1976) (citing extensive Illinois precedent). This rule has been held applicable to the presumption of divorce, Dedmore, supra, 257 Ill.App. at 523, and the SSA and the federal courts are required under 42 U.S.C. Sec. 416(h) to give the same effect to state-created presumptions that a state court would. Spradlin v. United States, 262 F.Supp. 502, 504 n. 4 (D.Mont.1967). Once the presumption is rebutted, no evidence of any weight remains on the record to show that Mozell was not Arthur's wife until the day he died. Accordingly, we hold the Secretary erred as a matter of law in holding against Mozell. 34 We reverse the judgment of the district court and direct entry of judgment pursuant to 42 U.S.C. Sec. 405(g) (Supp. V 1981), awarding widow's benefits to Mozell Grey.