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Legislative Process Keyed to Bressman, 4th Ed.
Kisor v. Wilkie
Citation:
139 S. Ct. 2400 (2019)Facts
James Kisor served as a Marine from 1962 to 1966, including combat in Vietnam. In 1982, he applied for disability benefits for PTSD, but the VA denied his claim, concluding he did not suffer from PTSD. In 2006, Kisor sought to reopen his claim, presenting new evidence including a psychiatrist’s diagnosis of PTSD and additional service records documenting his combat experiences. The VA reopened and granted his claim but made the benefits effective only from June 5, 2006, the date of his request to reopen. Kisor argued that under VA regulations, he was entitled to an earlier effective date tracing back to his 1982 application because he had submitted “relevant official service department records” that had not been considered in the initial denial. The Board of Veterans’ Appeals disagreed, interpreting “relevant” to mean records that address the basis of the prior denial (the lack of a PTSD diagnosis), not just any records related to his service. The Federal Circuit deferred to the Board’s interpretation under Auer, finding it not “plainly erroneous or inconsistent with the VA’s regulatory framework,” without independently determining the best reading of the regulation.
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