In this June 24, 2019 photo, the empty courtroom is seen at the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) The Supreme Court heard arguments Wednesday in a case that could determine how the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims considers decisions on veterans’ requests for disability compensation.
For more than an hour Wednesday, the justices peppered attorneys for the plaintiffs and the federal government on whether the Veterans Court is obligated to determine whether the Veterans Board of Appeals — the VA’s deciding panel on denied claims — must always consider, when there is equal evidence supporting and against a claim, the VA decided in favor of the veteran .
The Veterans Court was created in 1988 to review decisions by the board and required the court to ensure that veterans receive the benefit of the doubt in close cases.
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Following complaints from veterans groups that the court was too deferential to VA decisions, Congress in 2002 crafted new legislation that instructed the court to "take due account" of whether the board actually favored veterans in such cases.
In the case, Bufkin v. McDonough, attorney Melanie Bostwick said Congress wrote the law to ensure that veterans received a thorough review. Chapters
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