Stefanie Pickard v. Commissioner of Social Security

Summary

The court reviews and adopts a magistrate judge’s Memorandum and Recommendation recommending affirmance of the Commissioner of Social Security’s denial of Plaintiff’s disability benefits. Because no party objected, the court applied clear-error review, adopted the recommendation, affirmed the Commissioner’s decision, and directed the clerk to close the case.

Holdings

1. When no timely objection is filed, the district court need not conduct de novo review and instead must satisfy itself that there is no clear error on the face of the record before accepting the recommendation.
2. The magistrate judge's memorandum and recommendation was adopted, and the Commissioner's decision denying Social Security disability benefits was affirmed because the district court found no clear error in the M&R.

Questions Presented

1. What standard of review applies when no party timely objects to a magistrate judge's memorandum and recommendation?
2. Whether the magistrate judge's recommendation to affirm the Commissioner's denial of Social Security disability benefits contained clear error.

Disposition

affirmed