2018 First Circuit US Court of Appeals Case Law
Date: December 28, 2018
Docket Number: 17-2053
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant’s conviction and sentence without prejudice to his right to raise his claim of ineffective assistance of counsel in a collateral proceeding brought pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 2255, holding…
Date: December 21, 2018
Docket Number: 16-1479
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the district court’s dismissal of Appellant’s federal petition for writ of habeas corpus filed pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 2254, holding that the district court did not err in dismissing the…
Date: December 21, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1577
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant’s 109-month sentence for possession of child pornography, holding that the government did not violate the plea agreement in this case and that the district court did not err in…
Date: December 20, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1778
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant’s convictions and sentence for conspiring to defraud the United States and stealing government property in violation of 18 U.S.C. 371, 641, holding that there was sufficient evidence…
Date: December 19, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1058
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant’s sentence of thirty months’ imprisonment for knowingly failing to update his registration, holding that the district court neither committed clear error in finding that Defendant…
Date: December 19, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1362
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant’s conviction of being a felon in possession of a firearm an ammunition and sentence to time served plus three weeks of imprisonment and three years of supervised release, holding that…
Date: December 19, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1838
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court entering judgment against Plaintiff on his lawsuit against the United States under the Federal Tort Claims Act, 28 U.S.C. 1346(b), 2671-2680, holding that the…
Date: December 19, 2018
Docket Number: 17-2197
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant’s sentence for distribution of heroin and fentanyl, holding that the sentence was not substantively unreasonable. After a hearing, the district court sentenced Defendant to 168…
Date: December 19, 2018
Docket Number: 18-1682
Justia Opinion Summary: In this 42 U.S.C. 1983 case, the First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court granting summary judgment in favor of Kathy Bergeron, a corrections officer, holding that no reasonable juror could conclude that…
Date: December 18, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1555
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the district court’s order revoking Appellant’s supervised release, holding that the district court’s decision was not an abuse of discretion. In 2009, Appellant was sentenced to a term of…
Date: December 18, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1806
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Appellant’s sentence of forty months for illegal possession of a machine gun, holding that there was no reversible error or abuse of discretion in the district court’s decision. After…
Date: December 14, 2018
Docket Numbers: 17-1503, 17-1504
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgments of the district court convicting Alba Pena and Indranis Rocheford, sisters, of multiple counts of wire fraud and Rocheford’s sentence to thirty-three months in prison and three…
Date: December 14, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1849
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit dismissed Defendant’s appeal from his sentence as moot because Defendant had already completed serving the custodial sentence he attempted to challenge on appeal. Defendant pled guilty to unlawfully…
Date: December 14, 2018
Docket Numbers: 17-2162, 17-2170
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court concluding that Plaintiff was not discriminated against but that Defendant’s decision to terminate her employment, rather than impose lesser discipline, was…
Date: December 12, 2018
Docket Number: 18-1130
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit denied Petitioner’s appeal of an order of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) denying her request for deferral of removal under the United Nations Convention Against Torture (CAT), holding holding…
Date: December 12, 2018
Docket Number: 18-1573
Justia Opinion Summary: At issue was whether 11 U.S.C. 362(c)(3)(A) terminates the automatic stay as to actions against property of the bankruptcy estate. Maine’s Bureau of Revenue Services (MRS) had a claim for a tax debt owed by Leland…
Date: December 11, 2018
Docket Numbers: 16-2251, 16-2261
Justia Opinion Summary: In this case against members of the Rhode Island Board of Bar Examiners the First Circuit reversed the district court’s grant of attorneys’ fees in favor of Plaintiff and affirmed the court’s dismissal of Plaintiff’s…
Date: December 11, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1569
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant’s conviction of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute heroin and sentence of 120 months’ imprisonment followed by thirty-six months of supervised release, holding that there…
Date: December 11, 2018
Docket Number: 18-1314
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit denied Petitioner’s petition seeking judicial review of an order of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) dismissing his application for asylum, holding that substantial evidence supported the BIA’s…
Date: December 7, 2018
Docket Numbers: 17-1311, 17-1817
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit dismissed as moot a school district’s challenge to the district court’s order compelling the school district to determine a student’s eligibility for an Individualized Education Program (IEP) without…
Date: December 4, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1506
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant’s sentence of 168 months in prison imposed in connection with his guilty plea to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute oxycodone and cocaine, holding that…
Date: November 30, 2018
Docket Number: 18-1009
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit reversed the decision of the district court denying Defendants’ motion to dismiss Plaintiff’s complaint and compel arbitration based on the parties’ signed arbitration agreement, holding that, contrary…
Date: November 30, 2018
Docket Number: 18-1278
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court denying the petition for a writ of habeas corpus filed by Appellant, who was serving a life sentence in a state correctional facility, holding that the state…
Date: November 30, 2018
Docket Number: 18-1422
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the district judge’s order sending Appellant’s case to arbitration, holding that the arbitration agreement between the parties was enforceable and did not fail for lack of consideration or…
Date: November 28, 2018
Docket Number: 16-2008
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit vacated Defendant’s sentence of seventy-seven months’ imprisonment and remanded this case for further proceedings, holding that, under the Jones Act, 48 U.S.C. 864, the district court impermissibly…
Date: November 28, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1530
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the district court’s order denying Defendant’s motion for a sentence reduction, holding that the district court did not abuse its discretion in denying Defendant’s motion. Defendant pleaded…
Date: November 28, 2018
Docket Number: 18-1102
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the decision of the district court granting summary judgment in favor of Defendants on Plaintiff’s claim that Defendants conspired against him and violated the Massachusetts Civil Rights Act…
Date: November 21, 2018
Docket Number: 18-1011
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the decision of the district court granting summary judgment to the City of Providence, Rhode Island (the City) as to Plaintiff’s complaint for discrimination under the Americans with…
Date: November 21, 2018
Docket Number: 18-1464
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit granted a writ of advisory mandamus sought by the Rhode Island Department of Education and Training (Department) and directed the district court to vacate its denial of a motion to quash a federal grand…
Date: November 20, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1692
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the district court’s denial of Defendant’s motion to suppress and affirmed Defendant’s conviction of one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, holding (1) there was no basis on…
Date: November 20, 2018
Docket Number: 17-2144
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant’s sentence imposed after he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute oxycodone, holding that there was no error in the proceedings below. On…
Date: November 19, 2018
Docket Number: 14-1359
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the order of the district court exercising its ancillary jurisdiction to enforce a resolution issue by the Puerto Rico Secretary of Justice (Secretary) directing the Municipality of Juana Diaz…
Date: November 19, 2018
Docket Number: 18-1162
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit upheld the rejection of Petitioner’s motion to reopen his removal proceedings by the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) and denied his petition for judicial review, holding that Petitioner failed to…
Date: November 16, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1451
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed in part and dismissed in part Defendant’s interlocutory appeal from the district court’s denial of her motion for summary judgment arguing that she was immune to Plaintiff’s damage claims,…
Date: November 15, 2018
Docket Number: 18-1122
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit denied in part and dismissed in part Petitioner’s petition for judicial review of a Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) decision affirming an immigration judge’s (IJ) denial of his requests for asylum,…
Date: November 2, 2018
Docket Number: 17-2202
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the decision of the district court granting summary judgment in favor of Defendants on Plaintiffs’ claims that the Massachusetts firearms licensing statute, as implemented in the communities of…
Date: October 29, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1517
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit vacated the decision of the district court and remanded this case for entry of judgment in favor of Plaintiff and for remedial proceedings, holding that the district court erred in finding that Rhode…
Date: October 29, 2018
Docket Number: 17-2115
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the district court’s decision granting Defendants’ motion for summary judgment on Plaintiff’s 42 U.S.C. 1983 claim and dismissing Plaintiff’s Massachusetts state law negligence claim without…
Date: October 26, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1726
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant’s sentence of thirty months’ imprisonment for possessing a firearm while being an unlawful user of a controlled substance, holding that the sentence was neither procedurally nor…
Date: October 26, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1855
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit denied Petitioner’s petition for review challenging the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (BIA) denial of his motion to reconsider its order refusing to open his case, holding that the BIA did not abuse its…
Date: October 26, 2018
Docket Number: 17-2042
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant’s sentence to a 188-month term of immurement, holding that Defendant waived his “career offender” argument and made no showing sufficient to excuse that waiver. Defendant pleaded…
Date: October 24, 2018
Docket Number: 16-1275
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed in part, reversed in part, and vacated in part the district court’s entry of summary judgment in favor of American Honda Finance Corporation (Honda) on Plaintiff’s putative class action…
Date: October 24, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1784
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant’s conviction of one counts of stalking in violation 18 U.S.C. 2216A, holding that Defendant’s constitutional challenge was unsuccessful, there was no error in the district court’s…
Date: October 24, 2018
Docket Number: 17-2102
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant’s sentence imposed in connection with his plea of guilty to being a felon in possession of a handgun and twenty rounds of ammunition, holding that there was no error in the sentence…
Date: October 24, 2018
Docket Number: 18-1351
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court dismissing this contract action for lack of personal jurisdiction over the defendants in Maine, holding that the district court did not err in concluding that…
Date: October 19, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1916
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the district court’s order dismissing the case brought by Plaintiff seeking to have the district court address the same grievances she brought without success in the Massachusetts state courts,…
Date: October 15, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1711
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit vacated the judgment of the district court in part ruling in favor of Putnam Investments, LLC and other fiduciaries of Putnam’s defined-contribution 401(k) retirement plan on Plaintiffs’ lawsuit…
Date: October 15, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1779
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant’s sentence of sixty months in prison following his guilty plea to being a felon in possession of a firearm and unlawfully possessing a machine gun, holding that there was no error in…
Date: October 15, 2018
Docket Number: 18-1065
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit reversed the district court’s certification of a class of all purchasers of Asacol, including purchasers who had not suffered any injury attributable to Defendants’ allegedly anticompetitive behavior,…
Date: October 12, 2018
Docket Number: 16-1293
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit denied Petitioner’s application seeking permission to file a successive motion under 28 U.S.C. 2255 to vacate her conviction and sentence for possessing a destructive device during and in relation to…
Date: October 12, 2018
Docket Number: 16-2122
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the district court’s decision upholding the determination of the Massachusetts Bureau of Special Education Appeals (BSEA) ruling against all of Plaintiff’s claims seeking placement for her…
Date: October 12, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1421
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the district court’s judgment in favor of Stephen Elliott on his suit against American Capital Energy, Inc. (ACE) and its two principals (collectively, Appellants) claiming breach of contract…
Date: October 12, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1706
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant’s sentence of 276 months in prison for conspiracy to commit kidnapping, holding that the sentence was neither procedurally flawed nor substantively unreasonable. After Defendant…
Date: October 12, 2018
Docket Numbers: 17-1800, 18-1126
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the sentence imposed upon Defendant, a convicted fraudster, particularly the restitution order entered pursuant to the Mandatory Victims Restitution Act (MVRA), 18 U.S.C. 3663A, in the amount…
Date: October 12, 2018
Docket Number: 18-1129
Justia Opinion Summary: At issue was whether it is appropriate to use the categorical approach in determining what is a “crime of violence” under 18 U.S.C. 924(c)(3)(b). The First Circuit affirmed the district court’s denial of Appellant’s…
Date: October 11, 2018
Docket Number: 17-2210
Justia Opinion Summary: In this case arising from the fatal shooting of an armed civilian by a state trooper, the First Circuit affirmed the district court’s grant of summary judgment to Defendant, holding that Defendant was entitled to…
Date: October 5, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1436
Justia Opinion Summary: At issue in this bankruptcy case was whether a defaulting subcontractor who has no contractual right to compensation is nonetheless entitled to an equitable recovery if the general contractor has benefited at the…
Date: October 3, 2018
Docket Number: 17-2218
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the district court’s dismissal of Appellant’s habeas petition, holding that the state court ruling challenged in this case was neither contrary to nor an unreasonable application of clearly…
Date: September 26, 2018
Docket Number: 17-2114
Justia Opinion Summary: In 1996, a jury convicted former Massachusetts state representative Francis Woodward of, among other crimes, honest-services mail and wire fraud. He appealed the district court's denial of his most recent petition for a…
Date: September 25, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1404
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant’s sentence of twenty-one months’ imprisonment imposed in connection with Defendant’s conviction of making and conspiring to make false statements on a mortgage loan application,…
Date: September 20, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1541
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant’s sentence of 154 months’ imprisonment, holding that the sentence was both procedurally and substantively reasonable. Defendant pleaded guilty to carjacking with the intent to cause…
Date: September 18, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1857
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the conclusion of the district court that recognition of a “joint participant” exception to the spousal testimonial privilege is not warranted. The joint participant exception to the…
Date: September 17, 2018
Docket Number: 16-1405
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant’s conviction stemming from an armed robbery committed in Puerto Rico and the sentence imposed, holding that armed robbery committed in violation of the Hobbs Act, 18 U.S.C. 1951,…
Date: September 17, 2018
Docket Numbers: 16-2386, 16-2392
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit vacated the district court’s denial of Defendants’ motion for a new trial based partly on a claim that one juror lied in filling out the written questionnaire given to prospective jurors prior to trial,…
Date: September 14, 2018
Docket Number: 16-1321
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant’s convictions and sentence for federal carjacking and weapons counts, holding that Defendant’s arguments on appeal failed. Specifically, the Court held (1) the force clause in 18…
Date: September 14, 2018
Docket Number: 16-2112
Justia Opinion Summary: In this case alleging several violations of federal and state discrimination laws the First Circuit affirmed the decision of the district court denying Defendant’s motion to stay the proceedings in district court and…
Date: September 14, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1512
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the district court’s grant of summary judgment to MVM, Inc. as to a former employee’s claims under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. 2000, et seq., and related Puerto Rico…
Date: September 14, 2018
Docket Numbers: 17-1978, 17-1979
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court applying a two-level enhancement for possession of a stolen firearm and a four-level enhancement for using a firearm in connection with another felony in…
Date: September 13, 2018
Docket Number: 18-1195
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the decision of the district court that the exercise of specific personal jurisdiction against a German corporation did not offend the Fifth Amendment’s Due Process Clause, holding that on the…
Date: September 11, 2018
Docket Numbers: 16-2468, 17-1183
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the convictions of Akeen Ocean and Jermaine Mitchell for conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute cocaine base and Ocean’s sentence of 120 months’ imprisonment with three…
Date: September 10, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1117
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court sentencing Defendant to eighty-four months’ incarceration for possessing firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, holding that the government did…
Date: September 6, 2018
Docket Number: 17-2078
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit reversed in part, vacated in part, and remanded for further proceedings the district court’s denial of Plaintiff’s challenge of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care’s (HPHC) denial of coverage for the cost of…
Date: September 6, 2018
Docket Number: 17-2092
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant’s convictions for bulk-cash smuggling and currency structuring, holding that no reversible error occurred during the proceedings below. Specifically, the Court held (1) Defendant…
Date: September 6, 2018
Docket Number: 18-1243
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit dismissed Petitioner’s petition for review of a Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) final decision denying his application for cancellation of removal, holding that the Court lacked jurisdiction over…
Date: August 30, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1620
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the district court’s dismissal of Plaintiff’s suit against Bloomberg News and authors of an article Plaintiff claimed rendered Bloomberg liable for several common-law torts, including…
Date: August 30, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1951
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the district court’s dismissal of the complaint filed by the Narragansett Indian Tribe against federal and Rhode Island agencies concerning a highway bridge reconstruction over historic tribal…
Date: August 29, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1927
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court excluding certain evidence during trial in this case alleging violations of the Fourth Amendment and 42 U.S.C. 1983, holding that Plaintiff’s grounds for…
Date: August 27, 2018
Docket Number: 17-2066
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit held that federal law requires prior FDA approval for a manufacturer of prescription eye drops to change the medication’s bottle so as to alter the amount of medication dispensed into the eye, and…
Date: August 27, 2018
Docket Number: 17-2095
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the opinion of the Board of Immigration Appeal (BIA) affirming an Immigration Judge’s (IJ) denial of Petitioner’s application seeking asylum relief, withholding of removal under the Immigration…
Date: August 24, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1212
Justia Opinion Summary: At issue was whether a sentencing court may assess criminal history points for a prison sentence imposed following revocation of probation when the revocation-triggering conduct also constitutes the gravamen of the…
Date: August 23, 2018
Docket Numbers: 16-2380, 17-1101
Justia Opinion Summary: In this action filed by Plaintiffs seeking to enjoin their property’s foreclosure sale, the First Circuit affirmed the district court’s dismissal of Plaintiffs’ complaint under Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6) and the denial of…
Date: August 21, 2018
Docket Number: 16-1049
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of Defendants on Plaintiff’s claims brought under 42 U.S.C. 1983 and the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, holding that there was no…
Date: August 21, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1229
Justia Opinion Summary: After addressing how a district court should apply the Sentencing Commission’s revised commentary regarding mitigating role adjustments the First Circuit affirmed Defendant’s sentence to eighty-seven months of…
Date: August 21, 2018
Docket Numbers: 17-1264, 17-1316
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the district court’s summary judgment findings, evidentiary rulings, and denials of various motions on claims brought by a member of the rock band BOSTON against a former BOSTON guitarist…
Date: August 21, 2018
Docket Numbers: 17-1714, 17-1776
Justia Opinion Summary: In these consolidated appeals from orders dismissing two putative antitrust class actions, the First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court holding that purchasers of a brand-name prescription drug had not…
Date: August 21, 2018
Docket Number: 17-2200
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court for Regional School Unit 57 (RSU 57) on Charlene Richard’s claims that RSU 57 violated the Americans With Disabilities Act, Rehabilitation Act, Maine Human…
Date: August 20, 2018
Docket Number: 15-1981
Justia Opinion Summary: After addressing the proper standard for evaluating the enforceability of an appellate waiver the First Circuit dismissed Appellant’s appeal challenging the procedural and substantive reasonableness of his sentence,…
Date: August 20, 2018
Docket Number: 15-2239
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the dismissal of Plaintiff’s retaliation claims as pertains to a handful of the original defendants in this case, holding that the district court did not err in dismissing the claims pursuant…
Date: August 20, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1180
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the government on Plaintiff’s claim under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) for false imprisonment, holding that while the decision…
Date: August 15, 2018
Docket Number: 16-1002
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant’s convictions and the order of restitution imposed by the trial court but vacated the sentence of incarceration and remanded for resentencing, holding that the trial judge erred when…
Date: August 15, 2018
Docket Number: 17-2183
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit granted Petitioner’s petition for judicial review of the decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) denying Petitioner’s motion to reopen his removal proceedings, holding that the BIA overlooked…
Date: August 14, 2018
Docket Number: 15-2076
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant’s sentence for wire fraud and theft in connection with health care, holding that Defendant’s upwardly variant sentence was both procedurally and substantively reasonable. Defendant…
Date: August 14, 2018
Docket Number: 17-2005
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the sentence imposed in connection with Defendant’s plea of guilty to one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition and one count of possession of a machine gun, holding…
Date: August 14, 2018
Docket Number: 17-2068
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit (1) denied Petitioners’ petition for review as to their challenge to the determination of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) that Petitioners' motion to reopen a removal order was untimely and…
Date: August 10, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1593
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit dismissed this appeal in part for want of appellate jurisdiction and otherwise affirmed the district court’s dismissal of the underlying action asserting a claim under the Alien Tort Statute (ATS), 28…
Date: August 10, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1792
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit reversed in part the district court’s grant of summary judgment against Plaintiff, a faculty member, on her claim of retaliation under Title VII and the Maine Human Rights Act against Defendant, the…
Date: August 10, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1872
Justia Opinion Summary: In this declaratory judgment action filed by a professional liability insurer seeking to establish that it had no duty to defend its insured in two state court proceedings, the First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the…
Date: August 10, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1914
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the 121-month sentence imposed in connection with Defendant's plea of guilty to conspiracy to distribute cocaine and cocaine base, holding that the district court correctly calculated…
Date: August 10, 2018
Docket Number: 17-2021
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the sentenced imposed in connection with Defendant’s guilty plea to possession with intent to distribute, holding that Defendant’s sentence was not substantively unreasonable and that there was…
Date: August 10, 2018
Docket Number: 17-2079
Date: August 10, 2018
Docket Number: 17-2088
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant’s sentence of 120 months’ imprisonment followed by lifetime supervised release imposed in connection with Defendant’s plea of guilty to possession of child pornography, holding that…
Date: August 10, 2018
Docket Number: 17-2146
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit vacated and remanded the district court’s order upholding an administrative law judge’s (ALJ) conclusion that although Appellant had previously been eligible for Supplemental Security Income (SSI)…
Date: August 10, 2018
Docket Numbers: 17-2165, 17-2167, 17-2166
Date: August 8, 2018
Docket Number: 17-2079
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit vacated the district court’s order denying the request for relief from a stay of actions against PREPA sought by holders of revenue bonds issued by PREPA (the bondholders), holding that the district…
Date: August 8, 2018
Docket Numbers: 17-2165, 17-2167, 17-2166
Justia Opinion Summary: In this consolidated appeal from adversary proceedings challenging an alleged diversion of funds to which Peaje Investments LLC (Peaje) claimed it was entitled, the First Circuit held that Peaje did not hold a statutory…
Date: August 6, 2018
Docket Number: 15-1763
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant’s conviction and sentence for participating in a conspiracy to bribe an agent of an organization receiving federal funds and of receiving a bribe, holding that there was no error or…
Date: August 6, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1794
Justia Opinion Summary: In this action brought under the Interstate Commerce Commission Termination Act (ICCTA) the First Circuit denied the petition for review filed by Petitioners, holding that the Surface Transportation Board (STB) did not…
Date: August 6, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1797
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the sentence imposed in connection with the district court’s revocation of Defendant’s supervised release, holding that Defendant’s sentence did not violate the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition…
Date: August 2, 2018
Docket Number: 15-2138
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit vacated the district court’s grant of Liberty Mutual Insurance Company’s summary judgment motion in this case alleging that Liberty breached Plaintiff’s contractual rights by wrongfully denying his…
Date: August 2, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1319
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant’s 180-month sentence for conspiracy to possess five kilograms or more of cocaine with intent to distribute, holding that the district court’s failure to impose a downward departure or…
Date: August 2, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1900
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the district court’s denial of Appellant’s 28 U.S.C. 2255 petition, holding that Appellant’s three prior convictions were Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA) predicates, and therefore, Appellant’s…
Date: August 1, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1191
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of Medina & Medina, Inc. in this employment discrimination lawsuit, holding that summary judgment was…
Date: July 27, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1431
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the order granting summary judgment to Stericycle of Puerto Rico and other defendants on Plaintiff’s claims under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. 2000e et seq., and…
Date: July 25, 2018
Docket Numbers: 17-1059, 17-1067, 17-1064, 17-1066
Date: July 25, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1423
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant’s 120-month prison sentence, holding that the district court did not err in imposing a five-level enhancement for “engag[ing] in a pattern of activity involving the sexual abuse or…
Date: July 24, 2018
Docket Number: 16-2343
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court in favor of Defendant on several of her counterclaims against her business partner (Plaintiff) and awarding Defendant more than $400,000 in damages, ordering…
Date: July 24, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1285
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit denied Petitioner’s petition for judicial review of a decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) affirming the Immigration Judge’s (IJ) denial of Petitioner’s applications for asylum,…
Date: July 24, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1340
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the sentence imposed upon Defendant in connection with his plea of guilty to possessing a firearm while subject to a qualifying court order, holding that Defendant failed to show that the…
Date: July 18, 2018
Docket Number: 16-1933
Justia Opinion Summary: Although the district court did not err in its application of the United States Sentencing Guidelines in this case, the First Circuit exercised its discretion under United States v. Godin (Godin II), 522 F.3d 133 (1st…
Date: July 18, 2018
Docket Numbers: 17-1059, 17-1067, 17-1064, 17-1066
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the district court’s grant of Defendants’ motions brought under 28 U.S.C. 2255 to vacate, set aside, or correct their sentences, holding (1) the Rhode Island offense of assault with a dangerous…
Date: July 18, 2018
Docket Numbers: 17-1144, 17-1247
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant’s sentences imposed in connection with his convictions for possession ammunition as a convicted felon (the felon in possession case) and for possessing a machine gun (the machine gun…
Date: July 18, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1549
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the sentence imposed in connection with Appellant’s convictions, holding that the district court’s application of a four-level leadership enhancement under U.S.S.G. 3B1.1(a) was proper and that…
Date: July 18, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1597
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Appellant’s conviction for wire fraud and his sentence, holding (1) Congress did not impliedly repeal the wire fraud statute, 18 U.S.C. 1343, as to prosecutions that also fall within the reach…
Date: July 18, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1664
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit summarily affirmed Defendant’s 240-month incarcerative sentence, holding that the district court did not hold Defendant responsible for an incorrect drug quantity or improperly count two prior…
Date: July 18, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1702
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit vacated Defendant’s sentence and remanded for resentencing, holding that the presentencing report erroneously applied an enhancement, but for which his United States Sentencing Guidelines range would…
Date: July 18, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1941
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the district court’s grant of Brown University’s motion for judgment on the pleadings in this case brought by a college student alleging that she was sexually assaulted by three students of…
Date: July 16, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1284
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant’s conviction and sentence, holding that the district court did not err in refusing to order a pretrial hearing to test the sufficiency of probable cause allegations supporting an…
Date: July 16, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1457
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit remanded this case to the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) for reconsideration of Petitioner’s eligibility for asylum, holding that the BIA committed several errors in its review of the decision of…
Date: July 16, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1683
Date: July 16, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1984
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit reversed the judgment of the bankruptcy court allowing The Patriot Group, LLC to amend its pleadings in its adversary complaint requesting denial of the discharge in bankruptcy of Steven Fustolo’s debt…
Date: July 11, 2018
Docket Number: 16-2347
Justia Opinion Summary: The issues before the First Circuit were (1) the power of a court to impose a prior restraint in the form of a permanent injunction forbidding the publication of words that the court believes have been used to defame the…
Date: July 11, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1666
Justia Opinion Summary: In this case brought under section 104 of the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 (the LMRDA), 29 U.S.C. 414, the First Circuit affirmed the district court’s holding that a union member’s statutory…
Date: July 11, 2018
Docket Number: 17-2137
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the district court’s conclusion that the discretionary function exception to the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA), 28 U.S.C. 1346(b)(1), barred Appellant’s suit under the circumstances of this…
Date: July 9, 2018
Docket Number: 16-1396
Justia Opinion Summary: The district court’s decision to grant the jury’s oral request, made during deliberations, for a dictionary was improper, but under the circumstances of this case, the judge did not abuse his discretion in denying…
Date: July 9, 2018
Docket Number: 16-2280
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit upheld the decision of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to impose a limit - through a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit - on the amount of nitrogen that the Taunton…
Date: July 2, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1379
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant’s conviction for social security fraud stemming from his fraudulent use of a social security number not his own, holding that the evidence was sufficient to sustain a conviction. On…
Date: July 2, 2018
Docket Numbers: 17-1821, 17-1904
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit addressed questions that were “intricate, entangled, and in some instances novel” in this case implicating Massachusetts law. The questions included (1) whether a non-majority shareholder who also…
Date: June 27, 2018
Docket Number: 16-2456
Justia Opinion Summary: The district court erred in granting Defendant’s motion to dismiss, based on an arbitration provision, Plaintiff’s claims that Defendant violated various articles of the Puerto Rico Civil Code and federal copyright and…
Date: June 26, 2018
Docket Numbers: 15-1900, 15-1975, 15-2001, 15-2104, 15-2168, 15-2244
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed in part, reversed in part, and vacated in part the convictions of Angel Gabriel Fernandez-Jorge, Brian Perez-Torres, Jose A. De La Cruz-Vazquez, Edwin Otero-Díaz, Isaias Mendoza-Ortega, Edwin…
Date: June 25, 2018
Docket Number: 16-2023
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit reversed the district court’s grant of Uber Technologies, Inc.’s motion to compel arbitration in this putative class action brought by users of Uber’s ride-sharing service in the Boston area, concluding…
Date: June 25, 2018
Docket Number: 16-2153
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant’s conviction for importation of controlled substances, possession with intent to distribute, and conspiracy, holding that by entering an unconditional guilty plea, Defendant forfeited…
Date: June 25, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1120
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the district court’s judgment in favor of the Town of Camden, Maine on Plaintiff’s complaint claiming that Camden deprived him of his procedural due process rights when Camden laid him off…
Date: June 25, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1178
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the sentenced imposed after Defendant pleaded guilty to both producing and possessing child pornography, holding that Defendant’s claims of error failed. After Defendant pleaded guilty, the…
Date: June 25, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1533
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the district court’s dismissal of a complaint filed by George Gillis against William Chase in this third complaint against Chase, Gillis III, seeking to reopen Gillis I. Gillis was operating a…
Date: June 25, 2018
Docket Number: 17-2128
Justia Opinion Summary: In this case brought pursuant to the Massachusetts Wage Act, the First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court granting summary judgment in favor of Plaintiff. Plaintiff brought an action against Defendant,…
Date: June 20, 2018
Docket Number: 15-1337
Justia Opinion Summary: In this appeal brought by a criminal defendant challenging the length of his terms of imprisonment and supervised release and several of the supervised release conditions, the First Circuit dismissed the appeal with the…
Date: June 20, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1377
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the decision of the district court denying Petitioner’s request for discovery from Respondents in relation to opposition proceedings before the European Patent Office (EPO) under 28 U.S.C.…
Date: June 18, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1169
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the entry of a jury verdict awarding over $1.3 in compensatory damages and $1.3 million in punitive damages to Plaintiff, a black female former employee of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation…
Date: June 18, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1490
Justia Opinion Summary: The district court did not err in imposing a 218-month sentence on Defendant for conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute 100 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing heroin, holding…
Date: June 18, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1997
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff was not entitled to relief on her constitutional challenges to Maine’s Wrongful Birth Statute. After she gave birth to a healthy child, Plaintiff brought this lawsuit against Merck & Co., Inc., claiming that a…
Date: June 13, 2018
Docket Number: 15-2388
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the sixty-month sentence Defendant received following the revocation of his supervised release, holding that his sentence was neither procedurally nor substantively unreasonable. In 2010,…
Date: June 13, 2018
Docket Numbers: 16-2009, 16-2049
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit vacated Virgilio Diaz-Jimenez’s (Diaz) conviction and remanded the cause for further proceedings, holding that the search of Diaz’s home was unconstitutional, and the error was prejudicial. Diaz and…
Date: June 13, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1161
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the 120-month sentence Defendant received after pleading guilty to being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm, holding that the sentence was neither procedurally nor substantively…
Date: June 13, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1302
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant’s conviction for possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, holding that Defendant’s argument that the conviction was invalid owing to the district court’s…
Date: June 8, 2018
Docket Number: 16-1597
Justia Opinion Summary: The district court correctly granted summary judgment to the Defendant regarding Plaintiff’s hostile work environment and retaliation claims but erred in analyzing Plaintiff’s disparate treatment claim. After Plaintiff…
Date: June 8, 2018
Docket Number: 16-2144
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court in this criminal case, holding that the sentence imposed upon Defendant in connection with his plea of guilty to transporting child pornography was without…
Date: June 8, 2018
Docket Number: 16-2290
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit vacated in part the district court’s grant of summary judgment in Defendants’ favor on Plaintiffs’ claims seeking compensatory damages, declaratory relief, a permanent injunction, and expungement of…
Date: June 8, 2018
Docket Number: 16-2399
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant’s sentence following his guilty plea to a two-count indictment charging him with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and unlawful possession of a machine gun. The district…
Date: June 8, 2018
Docket Number: 16-2455
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit vacated the judgment of the district sentencing Defendant to twenty-one months of imprisonment for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine and marijuana and seventy-two months of…
Date: June 8, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1961
Justia Opinion Summary: On the facts of the case, the constitutional speedy trial clock began to run from the date of the original indictment rather than from the date of an additional charge first brought in a superseding indictment. A…
Date: June 7, 2018
Docket Number: 16-1756
Date: June 7, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1505
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court declaring that AIG Property Casualty Company had a duty to defend William H. Cosby, Jr. In 2014 and 2015, nine of the women who had, over the past decade,…
Date: June 7, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1601
Justia Opinion Summary: An employee of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) “willfully violates” an order from the bankruptcy court discharging the debts of a debtor-taxpayer, as that term is used in 26 U.S.C. 7433(e), when the employee knows of…
Date: June 4, 2018
Docket Number: 16-2263
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit vacated Defendant’s fifteen-year term of supervised release imposed in connection with Defendant’s guilty plea to violating the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act. On appeal, Defendant…
Date: June 4, 2018
Docket Numbers: 17-1084, 17-1113
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendants’ convictions for wire fraud, embezzlement of public money, and conspiracy, holding that there was no merit in any of Defendants’ claims of error. Defendants, members of the United…
Date: June 4, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1886
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the district court’s order upholding an administrative law judge’s (ALJ) denial of Appellant’s application for Social Security Disability Insurance Benefits and Supplemental Security Income.…
Date: June 4, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1993
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the district court’s grant of summary judgment for the proprietor of a self-service gas station (Defendant) on a customer’s (Plaintiff) negligence claim. Plaintiff filed suit in a…
Date: May 30, 2018
Docket Number: 16-2412
Justia Opinion Summary: At issue here was cross-claims arising out of a bail bondsman’s attempt to seize a bailed man who had failed to appear for a court hearing. Rodriguez, the bailed man, left New Jersey to return to his home in Puerto Rico…
Date: May 30, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1518
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit denied Petitioner’s petition for review of a decision by the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) to deny Petitioner’s application for deferral of removal based on the protection to which he claimed he…
Date: May 30, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1589
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit reversed the district court’s denial of Eric Blattman’s motion to compel Thomas Scaramellino to respond to questions regarding certain documents in this appeal arising out of a civil action brought in a…
Date: May 23, 2018
Docket Number: 16-2204
Justia Opinion Summary: At issue was whether the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) erred in concluding that Petitioner had not suffered past persecution nor had a well-founded fear of future persecution if he returned to Ecuador on account of…
Date: May 23, 2018
Docket Number: 16-2278
Justia Opinion Summary: At issue was whether the mailing of a claim filed pursuant to the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) for wrongful death was timely presented to the appropriate federal agency where Plaintiffs mailed the notice through the…
Date: May 23, 2018
Docket Number: 16-2405
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the district court’s judgment in favor of Defendant after this Court remanded the case, holding that any error in the district court’s evidentiary rulings was harmless and that the district…
Date: May 22, 2018
Docket Number: 17-2011
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the federal district court’s denial of Plaintiff’s motion for a default judgment against the Republic of Cuba seeking to enforce a Maine Superior Court’s default judgment of $21 million for the…
Date: May 21, 2018
Docket Number: 16-2064
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellants’ action brought under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA), 28 U.S.C. 1346(b), 2671-2680, seeking compensatory damages for the allegedly negligent act of a federal employee was time-barred under the FTCA’s…
Date: May 21, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1943
Justia Opinion Summary: The district court properly placed the burden of proof on a grocery store (Store) in this action brought by Plaintiffs alleging that the Store unlawfully trafficked in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)…
Date: May 18, 2018
Docket Number: 16-2226
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant’s sentence of eighty-four months in prison, followed by five years of supervised release, imposed in connection with Defendant’s straight guilty plea to conspiracy to possess cocaine…
Date: May 18, 2018
Docket Numbers: 17-1732, 17-1733
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Appellant’s conviction for marriage fraud in violation of 8 U.S.C. 1325(c), which prohibits knowingly entering into a marriage for the purpose of evading the immigration laws, holding that the…
Date: May 16, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1080
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant’s challenge to the sufficiency of his prior convictions to serve as Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA) predicates failed because no intervening law alters the validity of the First Circuit’s prior decisions…
Date: May 16, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1717
Justia Opinion Summary: In this complaint alleging violation of the Maine Whistleblower Protection Act (WPA), Me. Rev. Stat. Ann. tit. 26, 833, the district court faithfully followed the teachings of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court (the Law…
Date: May 9, 2018
Docket Numbers: 17-1127, 17-1128
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant’s convictions of drug offenses and failure to appear for arraignment, holding that, contrary to Defendant’s argument on appeal, Defendant’s counsel did not suffer from a conflict of…
Date: May 9, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1462
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant’s convictions for conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine and an unspecified amount of oxycodone and using and maintaining a…
Date: May 7, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1654
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit vacated in part the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of Defendants in this lawsuit alleging violations of the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) and claiming…
Date: May 7, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1906
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit vacated the judgment of the district court dismissing APB Realty, Inc.’s complaint against Georgia-Pacific alleging breach of contract stemming from the failure of a proposed deal concerning the…
Date: May 4, 2018
Docket Number: 15-1894
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit remanded Appellant’s case for resentencing, holding that the district court erred by ordering a twelve-month term of home detention as part of Appellant’s sentence. Appellant was convicted, pursuant to…
Date: May 4, 2018
Docket Number: 16-2308
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the order of the district court granting summary judgment to Defendants - the Town of Abington, Massachusetts and leaders of the Abington Police Department (Department) - on Plaintiff’s federal…
Date: May 4, 2018
Docket Number: 16-2441
Justia Opinion Summary: The district court erred in awarding attorney’s fees to Defendants in this case alleging various claims under Puerto Rico and federal law, including claims under the Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. 505. Plaintiff sued Sony…
Date: May 1, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1234
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the sentence imposed following the revocation of Defendant’s supervised release term, holding that Defendant’s claims of sentencing error were unavailing. Defendant admitted to violating his…
Date: April 30, 2018
Docket Number: 16-2451
Justia Opinion Summary: Employee’s failure to accommodate claim and retaliation claim under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) failed. Employee, who was previously employed by Employer as an assistant manager of a Burger King, was…
Date: April 30, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1350
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court sentencing Defendant, who pled guilty to a charge of illegal possession of a machine gun, to thirty months in prison to be followed by supervisory release,…
Date: April 30, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1445
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant’s convictions of arson, wire fraud, and the use of fire in furtherance of a federal felony, holding that any alleged errors during trial were, whether individually or collectively,…
Date: April 25, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1121
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed in substantial part the district court’s judgment dismissing US Bank’s complaint against HLC Escrow, Inc. and First American Title Insurance Company, vacating only its dismissal of US Bank’s…
Date: April 25, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1510
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court determining that probable cause existed for the arrest of Appellant and refusing to suppress evidence seized during a warrant-back search of Appellant’s hotel…
Date: April 25, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1607
Justia Opinion Summary: In this appeal arising from the efforts of the Massachusetts Technology Park Corporation (MTC) to provide broadband network access in Massachusetts, the First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court as to all…
Date: April 18, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1912
Justia Opinion Summary: At issue was whether the proceeds of a multi-million-dollar sale of certain railroad lines constituted property of the bankruptcy estate. Debtor purchased the assets of several United States and Canadian railways.…
Date: April 12, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1898
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the district court’s grant of summary judgment to Defendant, the owner of the website on which Plaintiff found a tropical villa that did not exist, holding that the district court correctly…
Date: April 11, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1325
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed in all respects Defendant’s conviction of distribution and possession of child pornography and his sentence of seventeen years of imprisonment followed by ten years of supervised release. The…
Date: April 6, 2018
Docket Numbers: 16-1682, 16-1703
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant’s convictions for one count of conspiracy to convert government property, fourteen counts of conversion of government property, and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering…
Date: April 6, 2018
Docket Numbers: 16-2066, 16-2067
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit reversed the decision of the Tax Court ruling that Appellants owed an excise tax for contributions made to their Roth individual retirement accounts (Roth IRAs) in violation of contribution limits,…
Date: April 4, 2018
Docket Number: 16-1030
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the district court’s judgment convicting Defendant, after he pleaded guilty, to two counts of conspiring to possess with intent to distribute narcotics and sentencing him to 121 months’…
Date: April 4, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1139
Justia Opinion Summary: The district court did not err in dismissing Plaintiffs’ first amended complaint (FAC) for failure to state a claim or in denying Plaintiffs leave to file their proposed second amended complaint (PSAC) in this litigation…
Date: April 4, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1615
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the district court’s ruling that the “set-off rule” announced by the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services (Secretary) in the form of answers to Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)…
Date: April 3, 2018
Docket Number: 15-2275
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court sentencing Defendant to a 202-month term of immurement on the charge of conspiring to possess with intent to distribute cocaine base and to a sixty-month term…
Date: April 3, 2018
Docket Number: 16-2242
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the district court’s decision affirming an administrative law judge’s (ALJ) finding that Appellant was not disabled within the meaning of the Social Security Act and thus not entitled to…
Date: April 3, 2018
Docket Number: 16-2470
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs within the zone of danger may recover for negligent infliction of emotional distress under the general maritime law. Plaintiffs brought this maritime action against Defendant, which they hired to ferry three…
Date: April 3, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1968
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court dismissing this defamation action for lack of personal jurisdiction. The Deal, LLC posted to a subscriber-only website an attached to email newsletters three…
Date: March 29, 2018
Docket Number: 16-2388
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit denied the petition sought by Petitioners, natives and citizens of Guatemala, seeking review of the denial of their applications for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention…
Date: March 29, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1892
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit denied Petitioner’s petition for review as to his challenge to the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (BIA) determination that his motion to reopen was untimely and dismissed for lack of jurisdiction as to…
Date: March 26, 2018
Docket Number: 16-2334
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant’s convictions for tampering with a witness by attempting to kill him and making false statements to a federal agent, holding that the trial court did not commit plain error. The Court…
Date: March 26, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1132
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant’s convictions for conspiring to commit access-device fraud, holding that the district court did not err in denying Defendant’s motion to suppress wiretap evidence and that Defendant’s…
Date: March 26, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1700
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court for Regional School Unit 75 (the district) on this complaint filed by a student’s parents on his behalf under, among other things, the Americans with…
Date: March 23, 2018
Docket Number: 16-1035
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant’s convictions for possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute and for being a prohibited person in possession of ammunition and his sentence, subject to a remand…
Date: March 23, 2018
Docket Number: 16-1385
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the district court’s order dismissing a suit that challenged the lawfulness of a 2012 foreclosure sale of a Massachusetts home. In their complaint, Plaintiffs, who formerly owned the property…
Date: March 23, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1098
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant’s eighteen-month sentence imposed in connection with his conviction for one count of possession with intent to distribute less than fifty grams of cocaine. Defendant pled guilty to…
Date: March 23, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1261
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the district court’s denial of Defendant’s motion to suppress drug evidence as having resulted from an unlawful search under the Fourth Amendment, holding that the search was…
Date: March 23, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1371
Justia Opinion Summary: In this appeal from a forfeiture order, the First Circuit held that the district court did not abridge Defendant’s procedural rights and that the district court applied an appropriate yardstick in measuring the proceeds…
Date: March 23, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1515
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the district court’s denial of Plaintiffs’ complaint alleging violations of the fiduciary duty of prudence under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), 29 U.S.C.…
Date: March 20, 2018
Docket Number: 15-2345
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant’s convictions for money laundering and conspiracy to commit money laundering and his sentence of fifty-five months in prison. The Court held that the district court did not err in (1)…
Date: March 16, 2018
Docket Number: 15-2025
Justia Opinion Summary: Amendment 794 to the U.S. Sentencing Commission Guidelines clarifies the Sentencing Commission’s original intent regarding section 3B1.2 of the Sentencing Guidelines and therefore applies retroactively. Defendant…
Date: March 16, 2018
Docket Number: 16-2394
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the eighty-four-month prison term Defendant received on a firearm charge following a remand for resentencing. On appeal from his resentencing, Defendant claimed that the trial judge incorrectly…
Date: March 16, 2018
Docket Numbers: 17-1331, 17-1353, 17-1332
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the convictions of co-defendants Doris Morel and Erika Tomasino for conspiracy and multiple fraud-related counts based on their participation in a multi-year tax-return fraud scheme. On…
Date: March 16, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1484
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant’s convictions for tax evasion, unlawful distribution of controlled substances, and health-care fraud, holding that Defendant was fairly tried and lawfully convicted. The Court held…
Date: March 16, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1907
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit denied Petitioner’s petition for review from the denial of his application for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture (CAT). The immigration judge (IJ)…
Date: February 28, 2018
Docket Number: 16-1372
Justia Opinion Summary: On the merits of the remaining portion of this appeal not dismissed as moot, the First Circuit held that the district court properly struck a local union (“UDEM”) as a plaintiff and dismissed this case brought…
Date: February 28, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1041
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the sentence imposed upon Defendant in connection with his conviction for knowing and intentional distribution of a controlled substance, holding that the district court properly denied an…
Date: February 28, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1304
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit denied Petitioner’s petition for review from the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (BIA) dismissal of her appeal from the denial of her application for asylum and withholding of removal of herself and,…
Date: February 27, 2018
Docket Numbers: 12-2364, 14-1892, 13-2017, 12-2367, 14-1329
Date: February 27, 2018
Docket Number: 14-1142
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant’s convictions for federal program bribery, lying to a federal agent, and obstructing justice. The court held that, contrary to Defendant’s arguments on appeal, (1) the district…
Date: February 27, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1669
Justia Opinion Summary: Here, the First Circuit clarified its circuit’s emergency aid doctrine, holding that police officers seeking to justify their warrantless entry into homes need only demonstrate an objectively reasonable basis for…
Date: February 21, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1693
Justia Opinion Summary: In this certified class action brought under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), the district court correctly concluded that Plaintiffs failed to adduce evidence necessary to proceed to…
Date: February 15, 2018
Docket Number: 16-2272
Justia Opinion Summary: In 1991, Valerio, a citizen of Costa Rica, entered the U.S. without inspection. She was apprehended and placed in deportation proceedings but failed to appear. Valerio's then-boyfriend purchased her a birth certificate…
Date: February 14, 2018
Docket Number: 16-2247
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant’s convictions for tampering with a witness, victim, or an informant and for obstructing the due administration of justice. On appeal, Defendant argued, among other things, that a…
Date: February 14, 2018
Docket Number: 16-2465
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the district court’s denial of Defendant’s motion to suppress, holding that the seizure of contraband in Defendant’s undershorts did not violate the “plain feel” doctrine. During a pat-down…
Date: February 14, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1031
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the sentence imposed in connection with Defendant’s conviction for possession of a firearm by a prohibited person. The district court sentenced Defendant to ninety-five months imprisonment. In…
Date: February 14, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1265
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the Tax Court’s decision upholding the Commissioner’s notice of deficiency against Transupport, Inc. The notice of deficiency reduced Transport’s cost of goods sold, reduced deductions it took…
Date: February 14, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1310
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit remanded this immigration case to the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) due to its insufficient explanation of why the least culpable conduct prohibited under Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 266, 2 is morally…
Date: February 7, 2018
Docket Number: 16-2293
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit reversed the district court’s order granting summary judgment to Appellee Omni Hotels Management Corporation (“Omni”) in this negligence action brought by Appellant Henry Mu. Mu was assaulted by an…
Date: February 7, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1049
Justia Opinion Summary: A trial court that wishes to us the McDonnell Douglas framework, see McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 802-804 (1973), as part of its jury instructions should translate it into everyday parlance and fit it…
Date: February 7, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1201
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit denied Petitioner’s petition for review of an order of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) denying Petitioner’s applications for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention…
Date: February 7, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1537
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit denied Petitioner’s petition for review of an order of the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission, which declined Petitioner’s petition for review of a decision of the Occupational Safety and…
Date: February 2, 2018
Docket Numbers: 16-2289, 16-2368, 16-2319
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the district court’s dismissal of three federal post-conviction relief petitions filed under 28 U.S.C. 2255, holding that the three petitions were untimely. Petitioners in these consolidated…
Date: February 2, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1442
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit reversed the district court’s grant of summary judgment for Plaintiffs in this alleging that certain assets should have been distributed to the estate of the decedent in this case, holding that the…
Date: February 2, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1539
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit denied the petition for review filed by Petitioner, a native and citizen of Honduras, seeking relief from the decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) affirming an immigration judge’s (IJ)…
Date: January 31, 2018
Docket Number: 16-2350
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court sentencing Defendant to a 120-month term of imprisonment in connection with Defendant’s plea of guilty to possession with intent to distribute five kilograms…
Date: January 31, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1382
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court sentencing Defendant enhancing Defendant’s offense level by four levels, resulting in a guideline sentencing range of seventy to eighty-seven months in…
Date: January 26, 2018
Docket Number: 15-2056
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the district court’s denials of Defendant’s motions for suppression and severance and declined to vacate Defendant’s sentence. Defendant pled guilty to crimes related to the distribution of…
Date: January 26, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1803
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit denied the petition filed by Petitioner, a Guatemalan national, seeking judicial review of a final order of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) denying her application for asylum, withholding of…
Date: January 25, 2018
Docket Number: 16-2401
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the trial court, entered after a jury trial, ruling in favor of Plaintiff on both her gender-based hostile work environment discrimination and retaliation claims. The court…
Date: January 24, 2018
Docket Number: 15-2298
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant’s conviction for being a felon in possession of ammunition but vacated his sentence. On appeal, Defendant argued that the district court erred in denying his motion to suppress…
Date: January 24, 2018
Docket Numbers: 17-1166, 17-1354
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the dismissal of Plaintiffs’ two suits against the Environment Protection Agency (EPA), holding that the EPA’s role in developing and approving several total maximum daily loads (TMDLs) in…
Date: January 23, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1239
Justia Opinion Summary: In this appeal, the fifth in a case stemming from Plaintiff’s unsuccessful attempts to enforce a $23 million judgment against Defendants, Defendants challenged the district court’s denial of their Rule 60 motion.…
Date: January 22, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1293
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the district court's dismissal of a complaint filed by unions representing the firefighters and police officers employed by the City of Cranston. The Unions filed a complaint claiming that…
Date: January 22, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1635
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the decision of the district court granting the Rhode Island State Board of Election's motion for judgment on the pleadings with respect to Plaintiff's claims that his constitutional rights…
Date: January 18, 2018
Docket Numbers: 16-1958, 16-2002
Justia Opinion Summary: After a previous remand of this case, the First Circuit addressed whether the district court’s ruling in favor of Claimant on her claim for disability benefits based on chronic and severe pain was correct and whether the…
Date: January 18, 2018
Docket Number: 16-2471
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant’s convictions for conspiring to defraud the United States and four counts of wire fraud and the sentence imposed by the district court, thus rejecting Defendant’s arguments on appeal.…
Date: January 12, 2018
Docket Numbers: 12-2313, 16-2087
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the district court’s denial of a motion for leave to amend a complaint after certain court proceedings, holding that the district court was not required to allow leave to amend. Plaintiffs…
Date: January 12, 2018
Docket Numbers: 16-2402, 16-2403, 16-2404
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit reversed the trial judge’s dismissal of counts in an indictment that charged Defendants with dispensing misbranded drugs in violation of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA). Defendants,…
Date: January 12, 2018
Docket Numbers: 16-9012, 16-9015
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the sale of Debtor’s remaining finished goods inventory to Schleicher and Stebbins Hotels LLC (S&S) after Debtor auctioned of its assets pursuant to section 363 of the Bankruptcy Code. Debtor…
Date: January 12, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1011
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of district court sentencing Defendant to a prison term of sixty-three months - the high end of the resulting guidelines sentencing range - after Defendant pleaded guilty to…
Date: January 9, 2018
Docket Number: 16-2167
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit reversed the district court's denial of Appellant’s petition for a writ of habeas corpus challenging his convictions for armed assault with intent to murder and other offenses, holding that trial…
Date: January 9, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1125
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court denying Defendant’s motion to suppress drug evidence found on his person during a traffic stop. A law enforcement officer stopped a vehicle in which…
Date: January 9, 2018
Docket Number: 17-1394
Justia Opinion Summary: In this case concerning the application and operation of Article 31 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, the First Circuit held that the exclusionary remedy limned in Article 31(d) applies to evidence offered in a…
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