CAN I SUE THE JUDGE WHO GAVE ME AN UNFAIR DISABILITY DECISION?

The short answer is No.

The Social Security Administration and the Code of Federal Regulations provide way to address unfavorable decisions. They are: Appeal to the Appeals Council, then file a lawsuit in federal court. The lawsuit, however, is against the Commissioner of Social Security--not the judge who issued the decision.

Administrative Law Judges (ALJs), acting within the scope of their professional discretion, cannot be held personally liable for their unfavorable decisions.

Of course, this is not true of criminal conduct. Judges may be held accountable for criminal conduct.

If you are the victim of a recent unfavorable decision by a Social Security judge (ALJ), you should consider your options: file another appeal or start over with a new claim. That's a vital, critical decision and one you should not make without counsel. One thing you must consider before making that choice is: Does you Date Last Insured permit you to file a new claim? In other words, have you waited too long to file a new claim? Be certain that you are able to file a new claim before dismissing appeal options.