Silberschein v. United States

Background

An enlisted man who served from December 9, 1917, to February 8, 1918, was discharged for physical disability. He was first paid temporary total disability, later reduced to twenty percent temporary partial disability, and then payments stopped entirely as of March 18, 1921. He sued under a statute that allows claims for compensation under the War Risk Insurance Act, arguing the Veterans’ Bureau director’s decision was arbitrary and contrary to the evidence. The lower court dismissed the petition, and the case came to this Court for review.

Reasoning

The Court examined the War Risk Insurance Act and its amendments and found that Congress gave the Director of the Veterans’ Bureau the duty to administer the law and to "decide all questions arising under this Act." The statute does not expressly permit suits against the United States for these claims, and the Bureau retained broad authority to revise or end awards. The Court held that, following prior decisions, the Director’s factual determinations are final and generally not subject to judicial review. Courts may intervene only in narrow situations: when a decision is wholly unsupported by the evidence, depends solely on a question of law, or is clearly arbitrary or capricious. The petition here made only general allegations and legal conclusions and did not show any of those exceptional conditions.

Real world impact

Because the required exceptions were not pleaded, the Court affirmed dismissal. Practically, veterans and others challenging similar benefit decisions will usually be unable to get judicial review unless they can show one of the narrow exceptions. The Court did not decide whether the claim was a pension or a gratuity, but it concluded there was no basis for court intervention in this case.