Byline: Linda Greenhouse New York Times
The Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday, 5 to 4, that the federal government had improperly denied benefits to tens of thousands of coal miners who developed symptoms of black lung disease in the 1970s.
But at the same time, the court sharply limited the impact of its decision by ruling that the Labor Department could not be required to reopen the old cases.
In an opinion by Justice Antonin Scalia, the court said that the miners had, in effect, waived their right to benefit from Tuesday's ruling by failing to file proper appeals years ago.
As a result, fewer than 7,000 of the nearly 100,000 miners involved in the case will be able to benefit from the court's conclusion that a Labor Department regulation governing eligibility for the black lung compensation program from 1977 to 1980 was unduly restrictive. The 7,000 miners are those …
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