Hershel PAYTON, Appellant, v. Donna E. SHALALA, Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, Appellee

HEANEY, Senior Circuit Judge.

Hershel Payton applied for disability benefits (DIB) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) in November 1990 alleging disability due to a work-related back injury. His claim was denied initially and upon reconsideration. Payton requested and was granted an administrative hearing at which he represented himself. The Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) denied Payton’s claim and the Appeals Counsel sustained the ALJ’s decision. Pay-ton sought judicial review of the denial of his claim in federal district court, and that court affirmed the Secretary’s decision and…