(SS) Marsala v. Commissioner of Social Security

I. Introduction

17 Plaintiff Andrew Jacob Marsala seeks judicial review of a final decision of the 18 Commissioner of Social Security denying his application for disability insurance benefits (DIB) 19 pursuant to Title II of the Social Security Act.1

II. Factual and Procedural Background

21 Plaintiff applied for benefits on October 8, 2021, alleging disability as of March 16, 2020. 22 The Commissioner denied the applications initially on January 12, 2022, and on reconsideration on 23 March 29, 2022. AR 105, 128. Plaintiff appeared for a hearing before an ALJ on May 25, 2023. 24 AR 52–82. The ALJ issued an unfavorable decision on June 13, 2023. AR 28–51. The Appeals 25 Council denied review on August 18, 2023 (AR 1–7) and this appeal followed.

27 28 1 The parties did not consent to the jurisdiction of a United States Magistrate Judge. Docs. 10, 11.

III. The Disability Standard

Pursuant to 42 U.S.C. §405(g), this court has the authority to review a decision by the

Commissioner denying a claimant disability benefits. “This court may set aside the

Commissioner’s denial of disability insurance benefits when the ALJ’s…