{"ID":63681,"name":"Bufkin v. McDonough","href":"https:\/\/api.oyez.org\/cases\/2024\/23-713","view_count":0,"docket_number":"23-713","additional_docket_numbers":null,"manner_of_jurisdiction":"Writ of \u003Ci\u003Ecertiorari\u003C\/i\u003E","first_party":"Joshua E. Bufkin","second_party":"Denis R. McDonough, Secretary of Veterans Affairs","timeline":[{"event":"Granted","dates":[1714366800],"href":"https:\/\/api.oyez.org\/case_timeline\/case_timeline\/55456"},{"event":"Argued","dates":[1729054800],"href":"https:\/\/api.oyez.org\/case_timeline\/case_timeline\/55523"},{"event":"Decided","dates":[1741154400],"href":"https:\/\/api.oyez.org\/case_timeline\/case_timeline\/55622"}],"lower_court":{"ID":17,"name":"United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit","href":"https:\/\/api.oyez.org\/taxonomy\/term\/17"},"facts_of_the_case":"\u003Cp\u003EVeterans Joshua Bufkin and Norman Thornton were each denied benefits despite evidence that appeared to be in \u201capproximate balance.\u201d The benefit-of-the-doubt rule, codified at 38 U.S.C. \u00a7 5107(b), provides that, \u201c[w]hen there is an approximate balance of positive and negative evidence regarding any issue material to the determination of a matter, the Secretary [of Veterans Affairs] shall give the benefit of the doubt to the claimant.\u201d However, in reviewing the Veterans Court decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit held that Section 7261(b)(1), which requires the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims to \u201ctake due account of the Department of Veterans Affairs\u2019 application of that rule \u201cdoes not require the Veterans Court to conduct any review of the benefit of the doubt issue beyond\u201d performing the usual review of the underlying factual findings for clear error\u2014a basic procedural requirement that was already in place before enactment of the Veterans Benefits Act.\u003C\/p\u003E\n","question":"\u003Cp\u003EMust the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims ensure that the benefit-of-the-doubt rule in 38 U.S.C. \u00a7 5107(b) was properly applied during the claims process in order to satisfy 38 U.S.C. \u00a7 7261(b)(1)?\u003C\/p\u003E\n","conclusion":"\u003Cp\u003EThe Department of Veterans Affairs\u2019 determination that evidence regarding a disability claim is in \u201capproximate balance\u201d is a factual determination subject to clear-error review by the Veterans Court. Justice Clarence Thomas authored the 7-2 majority opinion of the Court.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe statute at issue, 38 U.S.C. \u00a77261(b)(1), requires the Veterans Court to \u201ctake due account\u201d of the VA\u2019s application of the benefit-of-the-doubt rule. This provision does not establish a new standard of review but instead directs the Veterans Court to review such determinations under the standards in \u00a77261(a), which provides for de novo review of legal questions and clear-error review of factual findings. Determining whether evidence is in approximate balance involves both legal and factual components, as the VA must marshal and weigh evidence while also applying the legal \u201capproximate balance\u201d standard. Because this determination is primarily factual, clear-error review is appropriate.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EPetitioners argued that the Veterans Court should review the \u0022approximate balance\u0022 determination de novo, comparing it to judicial review of probable-cause determinations, but this analogy is flawed. The probable-cause inquiry involves substantial legal reasoning and constitutional concerns, whereas the VA\u2019s assessment of evidence balance is specific to each case and lacks broader legal implications. The statute\u0027s language does not support imposing de novo review, nor does the canon against surplusage justify a different reading.\u00a0\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EJustice Ketanji Brown Jackson authored a dissenting opinion, in which Justice Neil Gorsuch joined.\u003C\/p\u003E\n","advocates":[{"advocate":{"ID":63481,"name":"Melanie L. 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