Keri Lynn Curtiss v. Commissioner of Social Security

[DO NOT PUBLISH]
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
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No. 20-12762
Non-Argument Calendar
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D.C. Docket No. 8:19-cv-02257-AAS
KERI LYNN CURTISS,
Plaintiff-Appellant,
versus
COMMISSIONER OF SOCIAL SECURITY,
Defendant-Appellee.
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Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Middle District of Florida
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(August 16, 2021)
Before WILSON, ROSENBAUM, and BRANCH, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:
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Keri Curtiss, a pro se claimant, appeals the district court’s order affirming
the Social Security Commissioner’s denial of her application for supplemental
security income. “Pro se pleadings are held to a less stringent standard than
pleadings drafted by attorneys and will, therefore, be liberally construed.” Hughes
v. Lott, 350 F.3d 1157, 1160 (11th Cir. 2003) (quotation omitted). However, “even
in the case of pro se litigants this leniency does not give a court license to serve as
de facto counsel for a party” or “rewrite an otherwise deficient pleading in order to
sustain an action.” GJR Invs., Inc. v. Cnty. of Escambia, Fla., 132 F.3d 1359, 1369
(11th Cir. 1998), overruled on other grounds as recognized in Randall v. Scott, 610
F.3d 701, 709 (11th Cir. 2010). Thus, “issues not briefed on appeal by a pro se
litigant are deemed abandoned.” Timson v. Sampson, 518 F.3d 870, 874 (11th Cir.
2008). Curtiss does not make any argument as to how the Commissioner’s
determination that she was not disabled during the relevant period was erroneous.
Similarly, she does not cite any legal authority in her brief. Accordingly, she has
abandoned any challenge to the Commissioner’s determination, and we affirm.
Id.; see also Sapuppo v. Allstate Floridian Ins. Co., 739 F.3d 678, 681 (11th Cir.
2014) (“We have long held that an appellant abandons a claim when [s]he either
makes only passing references to it or raises it in a perfunctory manner without
supporting arguments and authority.”).
AFFIRMED.
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