Donna Price Cofer addresses the tensions between the administrative law judges (ALJ) of the Social Security Administration and their management and examines a common dilemma in the distribution of public social benefits: the desire to meet the needs of eligible claimants and the reality of a diminishing trust fund. She begins with a definition of disability and an outline of the stages of how a claimant is processed. The hearing process is investigated in depth with emphasis placed upon the rules of evidence, claimants' right to counsel, and the impartiality of the decisionmaker. The crux...