Charles Evans v. Michael Astrue

MEMORANDUM

Charles W. Evans appeals the district court’s order affirming the Commissioner of Social Security’s denial of his 2003 application for Disability Insurance Benefits and Supplemental Security Income. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 . We vacate and remand for further proceedings.

Administrative Law Judge M.J. Adams denied Evans’s 2003 application, finding that Evans was “not disabled” during the period from January 24, 2000, the onset date, to March 18, 2010, the date of the decision. Later, after the parties filed the opening and answering briefs in this appeal, a different Administrative Law Judge, Gary Elliott, granted Evans’s second application for Supplemental Security Income. ALJ Elliott found that Evans was “disabled” since November 30, 2010, the date of his second application.

Both ALJ Adams and ALJ Elliott found that Evans suffers from various medical conditions, including degenerative disc disease, schizoaffective disorder or depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Yet they reached different conclusions regarding whether he was “disabled.” There is no evidence that Evans’s health deteriorated during the eight months between ALJ Adams’s…