Court Opinion

ID: 9477023
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 06:11:25.516791+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:45:38.436573
License: Public Domain

*1297NATHANIEL R. JONES, Circuit Judge,
dissenting.
The dispute in this case concerns the manner in which self-employment losses that occur in a beneficiary’s “grace year” will be deducted from the beneficiary’s earnings for that year. Because I find that the district court used the correct method of deduction, I respectfully dissent.
The question before the district court, and now before us, is a question of law, not of fact. The dispute centers entirely around the administrative law judge’s (“AU’s”) interpretation of the applicable law. Indeed, the Appeals Council specifically noted that it was reviewing the AU’s decision because the AU had made an “error of law.”
Like other agency determinations of law, the Secretary’s determination in this case is subject to a de novo review. See, e.g., FTC v. Indiana Federation of Dentists, 476 U.S. 447, 106 S.Ct. 2009, 2016, 90 L.Ed.2d 445 (1986). “Unlike factual findings, questions of law are freely reviewable by the courts, and courts are under no obligation to defer to the agency’s legal conclusions.” Pennzoil Co. v. F.E.R.C., 789 F.2d 1128, 1135 (5th Cir.1986). Based upon this standard of review, a standard different than that employed today by the majority, I find that the interpretation of the statute as advanced by the plaintiff is more reasonable and logical than that advanced by the Secretary.
Although I disagree with the court’s determination as to the overpayment of benefits to the plaintiff, I do agree that the issue of waiver, which is now applicable because of the majority opinion, should be remanded to the district court for a proper determination.