Judge Munson Remands, Retires
March 1, 2008
Author: Catherine M. Callery (Kate)| Louise M. Tarantino
The Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York recently announced that former Chief Judge Howard Munson retired from the Northern District bench effective January 31, 2008. Long-time Northern District practitioners will remember Judge Munson, who was appointed to the bench in 1976 by President Gerald Ford, as a unique personality and a real workhorse in the busy District Court. Under his leadership, the Northern District bench grew from two to five active Judges, and from one to five active Magistrates.
Shortly before his retirement, Judge Munson issued a decision in one of Chris Cadin’s cases, Sanchez v. Commissioner of SSA. Judge Munson agreed with Chris’s arguments that the Commissioner erred in failing to consider non-exertional impairments (mental impairments) when determining residual functional capacity (RFC). Judge Munson also agreed that the ALJ erred in finding that the plaintiff, with IQ scores between 52 and 60, did not meet Listing 12.05. Judge Munson ordered a remand to develop these issues, as well as to elicit vocational expert testimony since it was erroneous for the ALJ to apply the Grid rules in a case such as this with non-exertional impairments.
We’re guessing that Chris will miss Judge Munson after getting such a good decision from him, which is available as DAP #484. Congratulations to Chris and best wishes to Judge Munson for a healthy and successful retirement.
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