(SS) Garcia v. Commissioner of Social Security ( 2021 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 NORMA ALICIA GARCIA, Case No. 1:20-cv-01746-HBK 12 Plaintiff, ORDER APPROVING PARTIES’ JOINT STIPULATION UNDER SENTENCE FOUR 13 v. OF 42 U.S.C. § 405(g) AND REVERSING FINAL DECISION AND REMANDING 14 COMMISSIONER OF SOCIAL CASE SECURITY, 15 (Doc. No. 15) Defendant. 16 17 18 Pending before the Court is the parties’ Stipulation for Remand filed July 30, 2021. (Doc. 19 No. 15). Plaintiff Norma Alicia Garcia and the Commissioner of Social Security jointly stipulate 20 to remand this case for further administrative proceedings under sentence four of 42 U.S.C. § 21 405(g) and for judgment to be entered in Plaintiff’s favor. (Id.). 22 The United States Supreme Court held that the Social Security Act permits remand in 23 conjunction with a judgment either affirming, reversing, or modifying the Secretary’s decision. 24 See Melkonyan v. Sullian, 501 U.S. 89, 97-98 (1991) (addressing issue of attorney’s fees under 25 the Equal Access to Justice Act and calculating deadline using date of final judgment). The 26 Melkonyan Court recognized 42 U.S.C. § 405(g) contemplates only two types of remand – 27 sentence four or sentence six. Id. at 98. A sentence four remand authorizes a court to enter “a 28 1 | judgment affirming, modifying, or reversing the decision of the Secretary, with or without 2 | resetting the cause for a rehearing.” Jd. at 98 (other citations omitted). 3 Here, the parties’ stipulation and proposed order notes that the instant case is related to 4 | Garcia v. Commissioner of SSA, case no. 1:19-cv-001103-JLT (E.D. CA), which was recently 5 || remanded, and the parties sees a remand of the instant case under sentence four and reversal of 6 | the Commissioner’s final decision. (Doc. 15 at 1-2). The parties further stipulate that on 7 | remand, the Appeals Council will instruct the administrative law judge to consolidate the 8 || two related cases. (/d. at 1). 9 Accordingly, it is now ORDERED: 10 1. The Court APPROVES the parties’ Joint Stipulation (Doc. No. 15). 11 2. The Commissioner of Social Security’s decision is REVERSED, judgment shall 12 || be entered in favor of Plaintiff, and this case is REMANDED to the Commissioner of Social 13 | Security for further proceedings consistent with the parties’ Joint Stipulation and this Order under 14 | 42 U.S.C. § 405(g), sentence four. 15 3. The Clerk is respectfully requested to terminate any pending motions/deadlines 16 || and close this case. 17 18 Dated: _ August 3, 2021 oe Zh. Sareh Zackte 19 HELENA M. BARCH-KUCHTA UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28