Donna E. Shalala, Secretary of Health and Human Services v. Richard H. Schaefer (509 U.S. 292)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided June 24, 1993 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 509 U.S. 292 · 113 S. Ct. 2625
- Decided
- June 24, 1993
- Term
- October Term 1992
- Vote
- 9–0
- Majority author
- Justice Scalia
- Issue area
- Attorneys
- Disposition
- Affirmed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party lost
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
Opinion excerpt
Justice Scalia delivered the opinion of the Court. This case concerns the proper timing of an application for attorney’s fees under the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA) in a Social Security case. Under 42 U. S. C. § 405(g), a claimant has the right to seek judicial review of a final decision of the Secretary of Health and Human Services denying Social Security benefits. One possible outcome of such a suit is that the district court, pursuant to sentence four of § 405(g), will enter “a judgment . . . reversing the decision of the Secretary . . . [and] remanding the cause for a rehearing.” The issue here is whether the 30-day period for filing an application for EAJA fees begins immediately upon expiration of the time for appeal of such a “sentence-four remand order,” or sometime after the administrative proceedings on remand are complete. I In 1986, respondent Richard Schaefer filed an application for disability benefits under Title II of the Social Security Act, 49 Stat. 622, as amended, 42 U. S. C. § 401 et seq. (1988 ed. and Supp. III). He was denied benefits at the administrative level, and sought judicial review by filing suit against the Secretary as authorized by § 405(g). Schaefer and the Secretary filed cross-motions for summary judgment. On April 4,1989, the District Court held that the Secretary had committed three errors in ruling on Schaefer’s case and entered…
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