Marvin O. Johnson v. Eric K. Shinseki

With great respect for my colleagues in the majority, two of their conclusions are simply wrong, with one such conclusion having significant adverse effect on veterans and the VA claims process. The first and foremost error is the majority’s finding of ambiguity in a clear regulation based solely on an assertion of ambiguity in the briefing and arguments presented by the counsel to the Secretary, which causes the majority to effectively defer to the redrafting of an otherwise clear regulation, under the guise of interpretation. The second error is the majority’s apparent holding that to be…