From the Akron Beacon Journal:
By the way, if you do not know what Social Security's hearing rooms look like, take a look at the picture above. Note that the room is not large or fancy and that it includes a large television screen with a small television camera attached to the bottom of the screen. The table in front of the judge has at least one computer monitor on it. The desk in front of the judge probably has another computer monitor on it just off camera.Judge Thomas A. Ciccolini is not a man easily shaken.As chief administrative law judge in Akron's new Social Security disability claims office in the heart of downtown, he reacts with calm assurance to the news out of Washington that judges who hear these cases are facing an increasing number of threats from people who are denied benefits, or must wait a year (or more) for the case to be decided. ...
''I practiced law in Akron for 31 years. I did nothing but criminal work, so I know courtrooms can become volatile,'' Ciccolini said. ...
As the chief Social Security hearing officer in Cleveland, where he heard disability cases for seven years before assuming the lead position in Akron, he said he actually had a guard stationed in his hearing room on only a couple of occasions.
''I have conducted thousands of hearings in my seven years and cannot recall any violent incidents. Obviously, there is somewhere in the country that this has happened,'' Ciccolini said, ''but it just hasn't happened in this area.''
2 comments:
I have a pet peeve with the phrase that people are waiting a year or more to get their case 'decided'. These claims have already had TWO decisions, albeit two unfavorable decisions by lower level staff, but decisions have been made by employees trained and authorized to make those decisions.
from the quote it sounds like people wait a year for an alj decision after the alj hearing. i rarely hear of cases that get a decision over a year after a hearing.
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