Opinion
CV-21-00513-PHX-MTL
12-21-2021
James Carl Halfhill, Plaintiff, v. Commissioner of Social Security Administration, Defendant.
ORDER
MICHAEL T. LIBURDI UNITED SLATES DISTRICT JUDGE
Pending before the Court is the parties' Stipulation for Remand (Doc. 22). For the reasons that follow, the stipulation will be granted.
Plaintiff filed an application for disability insurance benefits on June 28, 2016. (Doc. 19 at 2.) His claim was denied initially and again upon reconsideration. (Id.) Plaintiff then filed an application for Supplemental Security Income and requested that his claims be consolidated. (Id.) Plaintiff appeared before an Administrate Law Judge (“ALJ”) for a hearing regarding his claim on November 9, 2018, which the ALJ denied on January 16, 2019. (Id.) On appeal, the Appeals Council granted Plaintiff's request for review and remanded the claim for further development of the record. (Id.) On April 24, 2020, Plaintiff again testified before the ALJ. (Id. at 3.) Shortly thereafter, on June 16, 2020, the ALJ issued another unfavorable decision. (Id.) This time, the Appeals Council denied Plaintiff's request for review, thus rendering the agency's decision final. (Id.) Plaintiff timely filed the instant action, seeking review of the agency's decision. (Doc. 1.)
On December 20, 2021, the parties filed the instant Stipulation for Remand (Doc. 22). They request that the Court remand this action to the Commission for further administrative proceedings. (Doc. 22).
Sentence four of 42 U.S.C. § 405(g) grants the Court “power to enter . . . a judgment affirming, modifying, or reversing the decision of the Commissioner of Social Security, with or without remanding the cause for a rehearing.” Pursuant to that authority, the Court will grant the parties' stipulation. Because a “sentence-four” remand is treated as a final judgment, the Court will enter judgment against Defendant. See Shalala v. Schaefer, 509 U.S. 292, 302-303 (1993) (holding that a sentence-four remand is a “final judgment” and that therefore “a ‘separate document' of judgment should [be] entered” upon such remand).
IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED granting the parties' Stipulation for Remand (Doc. 22).
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED reversing the Commissioner's decision and remanding the case to the Commissioner for further administrative proceedings. The Clerk of the Court is directed to enter final judgment in favor of Plaintiff and against Defendant and to close the case.