Maresh v. Barnhart’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

17 federal appellate · 6 district ·

Most-quoted passages

The sentences later courts lift from this opinion, ranked by how many decisions quote each — the parts of the opinion doing the work. These counts are smaller than the citation total above because most of the 46 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “[Significantly subaverage general intellectual functioning with deficits in adaptive functioning initially manifested during the developmental period; i.e., the evidence demonstrates or supports onset of the impairment before age 22 [and] A valid verbal, performance, or full scale IQ of 60 through 70 and a physical or other mental impairment imposing an additional and significant work-related limitation of function[.]”

   9 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Johnson v. Colvin · Ash v. Colvin

2. “Although the ALJ did not address the issue, the record indicates that Maresh’s mental retardation initially manifested itself before age 22. Maresh struggled in special education classes through the ninth grade, and then dropped out of school. The Commissioner concedes that Maresh had trouble with reading, writing, and math. In addition, Maresh emphasizes his verbal IQ score of 70, recorded at age 37. True, the score was recorded after the developmental period, but “a person’s IQ is presumed to remain stable over time in the absence of any evidence of a change in a claimant’s intellectual functioning.” Muncy v. Apfel, 247 F.3d 728, 734 (8th Cir.2001); see also 65 Fed. Reg. 50,753 (2000) (explaining that the regulations “permit us to use judgment, based on current evidence, to infer when the impairment began.”)(emphasis added). Maresh also exhibited deficits in adaptive functioning at a young age, when he had frequent fights with other children. Based on the substantial evidence, the ALJ should have found that Maresh’s impairment manifested itself during his developmental period.”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. 960 F. Supp. 2d 933 - Pierson v. Colvin · 27 F. Supp. 3d 972 - Lee v. Colvin

3. “Comment: One commenter recommended that we use the definition of mental retardation (MR) found in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed. 1994) (DSM-IV), published by the American Psychiatric Association, as the definition of MR in listing 12.05 and 112.05. Response: We did not adopt the comment. The definition of MR we use in our listings is consistent with, if not identical to, the definitions of MR used by the leading professional organizations. The four major professional organizations in the United States that deal with MR have each established their own definition of MR. While all the definitions require significant deficits in intellectual functioning, as evidenced by IQ scores of approximately 70 or below, age of onset and the method of measuring the required deficits in adaptive functioning differ among the organizations. For example, the definition of MR used in the DSM-IV is predominantly based on (but not identical to) the revised definition of MR promulgated by the American Association on Mental Retardation (AAMR) in 1993. The DSM-IV states: “The essential feature of mental retardation is significantly subaverage general intellectual functioning (further defined as an IQ standard score of approximately 70 or below), that is accompanied by significant limitations in at least two of the following skill areas: communication, self-care, home living, social/interpersonal skills, use of community resources, self-direction, functional academic”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. 690 F. Supp. 2d 464 - BLANCAS v. Astrue