On January 28, 2002, Judge Sifton granted plaintiffs' motion for limited post-Judgment discovery with respect to the obligation of the Social Security Administration (SSA) to provide class members with the legal authority for its SSI financial determinations (that is, non-disability issues affecting SSI eligibility and/or benefit amounts).

SSA insists that its duty to provide the specific legal authorities for its SSI financial determinations is satisfied by the addition (starting last month) of generic language to its SSI notices, offering to provide claimants, upon request, with copies of the laws, regulations and agency policy statements (i.e., POMS) upon which a determination was based. Plaintiffs seek the inclusion of the specific statutory, regulatory and POMS citations in the body of individualized SSI notices.

As discovery on this "legal authority" issue begins, plaintiffs are interested in feedback from SSI claimants and their advocates on SSA's response to requests for copies of the legal authorities (laws, regulations and POMS) for specific SSI financial determinations.