Joe Pena v. Douglas A. Collins, Secretary, Department of Veterans Affairs

Petitioner seeks review of the dismissal of his appeal arising from proceedings concerning a veteran’s disability claim and allegations of clear and unmis­ takable error in earlier VA rating decisions. The Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims previously remanded aspects of the matter concerning the Board of Veterans’ Appeals’ treatment of medical evidence, including evidence relating to a 2002 VA examination. Petitioner contends that subsequent proceedings failed to comply with those remand instructions and denied him meaningful consideration of the asserted errors. On June 11, 2026, the Federal Circuit dismissed Petitioner’s appeal for lack of jurisdiction. The court concluded that Petitioner had not presented a challenge based on the validity or interpretation of a statute or regulation within its jurisdiction under 38 U.S.C. § 7292, but instead challenged the Veterans Court’s application of its procedures, its treatment of the facts, and its application of law to the particular facts of the case. Petitioner maintains that his claims presented review­ able statutory and constitutional issues and that dismissal prevented meaningful judicial review of those claims. Questions Presented

1. Whether the dismissal of Petitioner’s appeal for lack of jurisdiction deprived him of his First Amendment right of meaningful access to the courts.

2. Whether the dismissal of Petitioner’s statutory and constitutional claims without judicial review violated the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment.

3. Whether a veteran has a constitutional right to a fair hearing on the merits of a disability claim conducted according to fundamentally fair procedures.