Court Opinion

ID: 2964897
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2015-09-21 21:32:44.772615+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:00:59.811310
License: Public Domain

USCA1 Opinion

	

                                [NOT FOR PUBLICATION]

                            UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
                                FOR THE FIRST CIRCUIT
                                 ____________________

        No. 97-1026 

                                     LUIS TORRES,

                                Plaintiff, Appellant,

                                          v.

                           SHIRLEY S. CHATER, COMMISSIONER,
                           SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION,

                                 Defendant, Appellee.

                                 ____________________

                     APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

                           FOR THE DISTRICT OF RHODE ISLAND

                  [Hon. Robert W. Lovegreen, U.S. Magistrate Judge]
                                             _____________________
                                 ____________________

                                        Before

                                Torruella, Chief Judge,
                                           ___________
                           Stahl and Lynch, Circuit Judges.
                                            ______________

                                 ____________________

            Morris Greenberg on brief for appellant.
            ________________
            Sheldon  Whitehouse, United States  Attorney, Michael P. Iannotti,
            ___________________                           ___________________
        Assistant  United States  Attorney,  and  Wayne  G.  Lewis,  Assistant
                                                  ________________
        Regional  Counsel,  Social  Security  Administration,  on   brief  for
        appellee.

                                 ____________________

                                   August 20, 1997
                                 ____________________

                 Per Curiam.   We have reviewed  the parties' briefs  and
                 __________

            the  record on appeal.   Dr. Gibson's  examination found that

            claimant  had   a  normal  range  of  motion  in  his  knees,

            notwithstanding  the   indication  of   early  osteoarthritis

            revealed by  the x-ray.   Claimant's normal  range of  motion

            rebuts his claim that he met Listing 9.09(A) of appendix 1.

                 We  note that  the magistrate-judge  concluded that  the

            claimant's  failure to  oppose the  Commissioner's motion  to

            affirm the judgment "alone" sufficed as reason to  grant that

            motion.    This  is  error,  as  the  magistrate  still  must

            determine that the moving party  is entitled to a judgment as

            a matter of  law.  See Fed.  R. Civ. P. 56(c).   Nonetheless,
                               ___

            the error was harmless as the magistrate thereafter recounted

            and  analyzed the evidence and correctly concluded that there

            was  substantial  evidence  to support  the  decision  of the

            administrative law judge.

                 Affirmed.
                 _________