Jackson v. Astrue

Full title: MARK C. JACKSON, Plaintiff, v. MICHAEL J. ASTRUE, Commissioner of Social…

Court: United States District Court, M.D. Florida, Jacksonville Division

Date published: Dec 3, 2009

CASE NO. 3:08-cv-461-J-34TEM (M.D. Fla. Dec. 3, 2009)

Opinion

CASE NO. 3:08-cv-461-J-34TEM.

December 3, 2009

ORDER

THOMAS MORRIS, Magistrate Judge

This case is before the Court on Plaintiff's Motion for Declaratory Judgment (Doc. #43, Motion for Declaratory Judgment), filed March 3, 2009, which has been referred to the undersigned. As background, previously the Court issued Reports and Recommendations to grant Defendant the State of Florida's Motion to Dismiss (Doc. #11) and to grant in part and deny in part Defendant Astrue's Motion to Dismiss, or in the Alternative, for Summary Judgment (Doc. #19). Those Reports and Recommendations (Docs. #36, #38) were adopted by the District Court on November 6, 2009 ( see Doc. #62, Court Order). Therefore, the only claim currently remaining in this action is the construed appeal of the May 17, 2007 decision of the Commissioner of Social Security to deny Plaintiff's administrative claims for disability benefits.

In the Motion for Declaratory Judgment, Plaintiff requests that the Court grant his complaint against the Commissioner of Social Security and order the Commissioner to pay Social Security benefits from 1996 to the present (Doc. #43 at 5). Additionally, Plaintiff requests punitive damages and hedonic damages in the amount of $5,000,000.00 (Doc. #43 at 5).

Declaratory judgment may be sought to establish the rights and other legal relations of the parties without providing for or ordering enforcement, and offers a means by which rights and obligations may be adjudicated in cases involving actual controversy that has not reached a stage at which either party may seek coercive remedy or in cases where a party who could sue for coercive remedy has not yet done so. Black's Law Dictionary 848 (7^th ed. 1999), 22A Am. Jur. 2d Declaratory Judgments § 1. A declaratory judgment is an action in which the court declares rights, duties, and status or other legal relations between the parties and is not a theory of recovery. 22A Am. Jur. 2d Declaratory Judgments § 1. Furthermore, a declaratory judgement is an equitable remedy that is not granted of right but only at the sound discretion of the court. 22A Am. Jur. 2d Declaratory Judgments § 2.

Contrary to Plaintiff's contention, the Motion for Declaratory Judgment fails to actually seek declaratory judgment as defined by the Court. Although Plaintiff poses a series of questions relating to his rights under the constitution and as a citizen, the Plaintiff is not seeking that the Court declare any rights. Rather, Plaintiff seeks recovery in the form of damages allegedly owed to him by the Commissioner of Social Security as well as punitive and hedonic damages. Such relief does not fall within the boundaries of declaratory judgment.

Accordingly, Plaintiff's Motion for Declaratory Judgment (Doc. #43) is DENIED. DONE AND ORDERED at Jacksonville, Florida.