Gossett v. Czech, No. 06-16973

In a 42 U.S.C. section 1983 action claiming that defendant unlawfully took a portion of plaintiff-committed inmate's Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) benefits each month and applied the money to partially defray the cost of plaintiff's care at a state hospital, summary judgment for defendant is affirmed where 38 U.S.C. section 5301(a)(1), when read in combination with pertinent regulations such as 38 C.F.R. section 13.71, does not prohibit direct payments of VA benefits to a state hospital for ongoing veteran patient care.

Read Gossett v. Czech, No. 06-16973

Appellate Information

Argued and Submitted June 4, 2009

Filed September 9, 2009

Judges

Opinion by Judge Smith

Counsel

For Appellant:

Paul Gossett, pro se

Charles C. Lifland, O'Melveny & Myers LLP, Los Angeles, CA

For Appellee:

Harry T. Gower, Deputy Attorney General, San Francisco, CA