Statement by The AALJ National Executive Board on The Misuse of "Laptop Law" to Clear the Backlog of Social Security Disability Cases

Business Wire, August 15, 2008

WASHINGTON -- Currently the nation's Social Security disability insurance program is struggling under a severe case backlog. In some parts of the country, claimants can wait more than two years for a hearing. According to the Government Accountability Office the backlog results primarily from increased applications, staffing shortages and management weaknesses.

The Social Security Administration (SSA) has tried a number of fixes to speed the process including video hearings. In recent years, these hearings have been conducted in special chambers located in government buildings where federal administrative law judges control the camera and where claimants can discuss the most intimate details of their lives and disability, without worrying others will hear. While video hearings are not a perfect solution to the backlog and do not address the extreme shortage of support staffers required to help judges research, schedule as well as organize and write decisions, video hearings up until now have been held in a dignified manner that guarantees the integrity of the hearing process.

Now, SSA's management has begun testing a new and until now unpublicized form of video hearing where judges are not in control of the camera, where hearings originate from the offices of private disability lawyers and where no federal employee is present to monitor the hearing and oversee operation of the camera or protect the privacy of claimants.

Judges would like to see steps taken to reduce the backlog and more quickly settle claims, however the use of video hearings originating from claimants' lawyers laptops is not the solution. Claimants who have paid into the Social Security system throughout their working lives have a right to a fair hearing before a judge in a dignified setting. The new "laptop law" video forum has no provision for the judge to position or move the camera during the hearing. It deprives the judge of control of the hearing process and creates too many opportunities to game the system. It is not hard to imagine a claimant testifying from his lawyer's office reading testimony from a teleprompter or being coached by another lawyer in the background. The Social Security Act and the Administrative Procedure Act require the judge to control the hearing. These new video hearings, now being tested, are a serious mistake. Research conducted by Professor Fred Lederer of the College of William and Mary raises serious questions about both the fairness and effectiveness of court proceedings conducted in this manner. If the claimant is appearing via video from his attorney's office, the judge has no way to insure a fair hearing.

Claimants have a right to their day in court and a fair hearing. The taxpayer needs to have confidence that the Social Security Trust Funds are being protected. Laptop law and turning over unprecedented control to claimants' lawyers is wrong and is strongly opposed by the Association of Administrative Law Judges and our members who serve the public throughout the United States.

The Association of Administrative Law Judges (AALJ) represents the 1,200 federal administrative law judges employed by the Social Security Administration. The AALJ is holding its annual professional education conference this week in Portland Oregon.