What has the Supreme Court said about (CUE) Clear and Unmistakable Error

[Tbird]

The case in question is:

George v. McDonough Oral Argument

The Supreme Court heard oral argument in George v. McDonough, a case concerning veterans denied disability benefits and the appeals process. Under federal law, veterans are entitled to benefits under federal law for injuries or disabilities resulting from their service, including pre-existing conditions aggravated during service. In 1975, Kevin George was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia just months after enlisting as a Marine. He received a medical discharge and filed for disability benefits through the VA. He was denied after a medical panel ruled his condition existed prior to joining the military. Mr. George appealed to the Board of Veterans' Appeals in 1977 but was unsuccessful. In 1988, Congress acted to allow VA decisions to be appealed in federal court. In 2014, Mr. George appealed again. He argued his case should be reopened because the board denied his claims based on an invalidated statute. Lower federal courts ruled against him, and he appealed.

This link will take you to the C-Span page of the hearing. This page includes the audio hearing as well as the text for those with hearing issues.

You can read the Amicus Brief here.

[Amicus Curiae - Latin for "friend of the court." Plural is "amici curiae." Frequently, a person or group who is not a party to an action, but has a strong interest in the matter, will petition the court for permission to submit a brief in the action with the intent of influencing the court's decision. Such briefs are called "amicus briefs."]

[Lemuel]

Read thru the whole thing.  No clue on how they will decide.  Hope the go for George because it will make CUE better defined when it comes to regulations and statutes.  And both ultimately must fall under Constitutional authority as the "higher authority."  I think then "Fifth Amendment, denial of due process" will become a CUE.  

Still waiting for my BVA hearing.

[Vync]

@LemuelI agree. I hope George wins and they allow changes in interpretation which benefit veterans to impact prior denials.

The whole CUE process assumes the vet squandered their appeal window. Many vets, like me, simply did not understand the system at the time and trusted VSOs and the VA to handle things by the book. We all know how that goes. And then when they apply CUE, it's totally adversarial as the Caluza element for the nexus is completely tossed out the window. Can't reinterpret it at all.