1. “Whether enactment of the Veterans Appeals Improvement and Modernization Act of 2017 (‘AMA’), 115 Pub. L. No. 55, 131 Stat. 1105 (Aug. 23, 2017) really does permit the Board of Veterans Appeals to switch judges, so that one judge can hear the case at the hearing but another judge makes the final determination or disposition.”
2. “Whether the Veterans Court committed error when it inferred that Congress intended to permit the BVA to switch judges based on changes Congress made to 38 U.S.C. § 7107, even though Congress made no changes to 38 U.S.C. § 7102.”
3. “Whether the Veterans Court committed error when it refused to apply fair process to the outcome of Mr. Frantzis’ case.”
1. “The AMA amended 38 U.S.C. § 7107(c) and removed the language that required the same judge for both the hearing and final determination.”
2. “The source of the same member requirement for the legacy appeals system was pre-AMA 38 U.S.C. § 7107(c). The unchanged language of § 7102 cannot be the basis for the same member requirement in the AMA system.”
3. “To the extent Mr. Frantzis argues the fair process doctrine creates a procedural right, the argument was not presented below and is thus forfeited.”
