Imagine, if you will, a judge who never says no. Not once. Not ever. Imagine a courtroom where the outcome is predetermined, the evidence irrelevant, and the hearing perfunctory or entirely absent. This is not a scene from a dystopian novel about justice undone but rather a faithful portrait of how disability claims are routinely handled by the Social Security Administration's (SSA) administrative law judges (ALJs). These ALJs are not jurists in the traditional sense. They are executive branch employees, shielded by federal unions, and ensconced in a bureaucratic cocoon that rewards speed over scrutiny, volume over veracity. While most...