2020 First Circuit US Court of Appeals Case Law
Date: December 29, 2020
Docket Numbers: 16-2490, 18-1076, 18-1528, 20-1385, 20-1438, 20-1402, 17-1081, 17-1092, 17-1314, 20-1405
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit vacated Defendants' convictions for their roles in an expansive drug-trafficking conspiracy, holding that the evidence was sufficient to support the convictions but the trial was rendered unfair due to…
Date: December 23, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1552
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the district court's denial of Appellant's petition for a writ of habeas corpus, holding that the the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts (SJC) reasonably applied clearly established law in…
Date: December 23, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1994
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit denied Petitioner's petition for review of a final order of removal issued by the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) dismissing Petitioner's appeal from the decision of an immigration judge (IJ) denying…
Date: December 22, 2020
Docket Number: 18-2146
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit vacated Defendant's plea of guilty to one count of violating 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1), which makes it a crime for a convicted felon to possess a firearm, holding that there was a reasonable probability that…
Date: December 22, 2020
Docket Number: 20-1507
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit dismissed this appeal without prejudice for lack of appellate jurisdiction, holding that the appeal was premature. In the early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Governor of Maine responded to the…
Date: December 21, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1006
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit denied Petitioner's challenge to an order of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) denying her applications for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the United Nations Convention…
Date: December 21, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1432
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court dismissing Plaintiff's disability discrimination suit against the United States Patent and Trademark Office and its director, holding that the district court…
Date: December 21, 2020
Docket Number: 19-9003
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel (BAP) dismissing under the doctrine of equitable mootness this appeal brought by United Surety & Indemnification Company (USIC), holding that…
Date: December 18, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1139
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the district court's grant of summary judgment to Defendant Dr. Richard Nadal Carrion on Plaintiff's claims for negligently failing to obtain Plaintiff's informed consent before performing an…
Date: December 18, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1268
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the order of the district court granting summary judgment to Defendant on Plaintiff's claims of disability discrimination and retaliation, in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act,…
Date: December 18, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1880
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the order of the district court granting summary judgment on Plaintiff's deliberate indifference claim brought under 42 U.S.C. 1983 against Krystal Anderson, a nurse at Souza-Baranowski…
Date: December 18, 2020
Docket Number: 19-2230
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit denied Petitioner's petition for review of the decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) denying his applications for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the United Nations…
Date: December 18, 2020
Docket Number: 19-2282
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit denied the petition for review filed by the Massachusetts Department of Telecommunications and Cable (MDTC) challenging the FCC's determination that the cable system operated by Charter Communications,…
Date: December 18, 2020
Docket Number: 20-1022
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit reversed the order of the district court granting summary judgment in favor of General Star Indemnity Company, the excess insurer of Performance Trans., Inc. and Utica Mutual Insurance Company…
Date: December 16, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1816
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant's conviction of a drug offense, in violation of 21 U.S.C. 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(B), holding that the district court did not err in denying Defendant's motion to suppress the drug…
Date: December 16, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1864
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit dismissed Appellant's appeal of the order of the district court dismissing Appellant's complaint seeking an order compelling the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) to rescind and reissue an order of…
Date: December 15, 2020
Docket Numbers: 19-1586, 19-1640, 19-1629
Justia Opinion Summary: In these consolidated appeals concerning the "categorical and sweeping nature" of Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 272, 99, the First Circuit affirmed the district court's ruling that Section 99 violates the First Amendment in…
Date: December 14, 2020
Docket Numbers: 17-1731, 17-1812
Date: December 9, 2020
Docket Number: 18-1559
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court granting JPMorgan Chase Bank's (Chase) motion to dismiss Mark and Beth Thompson's action for breach of contract and for violating the statutory power of sale…
Date: December 9, 2020
Docket Number: 19-2037
Justia Opinion Summary: In this case brought under the anti-retaliation provision of the False Claims Act, the First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court awarding Plaintiff $762,525 in compensatory damages, holding that the…
Date: December 8, 2020
Docket Number: 18-2106
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant's conviction of one count of stealing a motor vehicle and one count of brandishing a firearm, holding that Defendant was not entitled to relief on any of his allegations of…
Date: December 4, 2020
Docket Numbers: 17-1731, 17-1812
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit dismissed these consolidated appeals, and a companion appeal, arising out of long-running litigation between Puerto Rico and several Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) over the Commonwealth's…
Date: December 4, 2020
Docket Number: 18-1863
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant's sentence imposed after he pleaded guilty to one count of unlawfully possessing a machine-gun, holding that the district court did not err in sentencing Defendant. In sentencing…
Date: December 4, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1336
Date: December 4, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1709
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court granting Defendant's motion for judgment as a matter of law and dismissing Plaintiff's claim that she was fired from her position because of her age, holding…
Date: December 3, 2020
Docket Number: 17-2213
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court dismissing Petitioner's habeas petition under 28 U.S.C. 2255, holding that defense counsel did not render ineffective assistance in deciding not to call two…
Date: December 3, 2020
Docket Number: 18-2053
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant's sentence of eighty-six months' imprisonment after pleading guilty to two firearms counts, holding that the sentence was not procedurally unreasonable. On appeal, Defendant argued…
Date: December 1, 2020
Docket Number: 18-2133
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court convicting Defendant of armed bank robbery and related crimes, holding that Defendant's claims on appeal were without merit. After a trial, the jury found…
Date: November 30, 2020
Docket Numbers: 19-1306, 19-1347
Justia Opinion Summary: In this contract dispute between Landlord and Tenant that arose under their lease to a shopping center premises the First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court granting summary judgment to Tenant on one…
Date: November 30, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1636
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court granting a Union's motion to dismiss two Hampshire state employees' (Appellants) complaint pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 1983, holding that Appellants' claim based on…
Date: November 30, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1777
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit denied Petitioner's petition seeking review of a decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) dismissing Petitioner's appeal of an Immigration Judge's (IJ) decision finding that Petitioner had…
Date: November 30, 2020
Docket Number: 20-1157
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit vacated the October 30, 2019 order of the National Labor Relations Board reinstating its November 10, 2016 order finding that Wang Theatre, Inc. (WTI) committed labor violations by failing to bargain…
Date: November 25, 2020
Docket Number: 18-1966
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit vacated the judgment of the sentencing court sentencing Defendant to a 235-month term of imprisonment for one count of abusive sexual contact with a child under the age of twelve, holding that the…
Date: November 25, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1896
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the order of the district court granting Defendants' motions to compel Plaintiff's claims to the arbitration process, holding that Defendants had the authority to enforce the arbitration…
Date: November 24, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1845
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit reversed the order of the district court remanding this removed case to Puerto Rico's Court of First Instance, holding that the district court erred when it remanded to the local Puerto Rico court a…
Date: November 24, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1967
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court granting Defendant's motion for a new trial, holding that the government failed to show that the district court granted reversible error by granting the…
Date: November 24, 2020
Docket Number: 19-2005
Date: November 20, 2020
Docket Numbers: 18-2232, 19-1911, 18-2233, 19-1910
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendants' convictions for securities fraud and conspiracy to commit securities fraud, holding that Defendants' claims of trial and sentencing error were unavailing. Defendants were two…
Date: November 20, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1929
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit denied the petition for a writ of mandamus filed by Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. pursuant to the Crime Victim's Rights Act, 18 U.S.C. 3771(d)(3), requesting vacatur of the district court's restitution…
Date: November 17, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1351
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant's sentence for violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act (RICO), 18 U.S.C. 1962(d), holding that the life without parole sentence imposed by the district court…
Date: November 17, 2020
Docket Number: 20-1201
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit denied Petitioner's petition to review a decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) denying his requests for asylum and withholding of removal under the Immigration and Naturalization Act and…
Date: November 17, 2020
Docket Number: 20-1329
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court finding that Defendant had committed fraud in connection with a contract for dredging work to be performed in Massachusetts and in awarding Plaintiff $148,626…
Date: November 13, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1389
Date: November 13, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1533
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit reversed the judgment of the district court granting Wilmington Savings Fund Society, FSB a declaratory judgment declaring invalid a home equity line of credit (HELOC) that had previously been granted…
Date: November 12, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1618
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the grant of summary judgment to Ocwen Loan Servicing, LLC in Josephine Donahue's suit against Ocwen and the Government National Mortgage Association (GNMA), holding that summary judgment was…
Date: November 12, 2020
Docket Number: 19-2005
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit held that Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. (SFFA) had associational standing to bring its claims against the President and Fellows of Harvard College and the Board of Overseers (collectively, Harvard)…
Date: November 9, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1572
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant's conviction for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute heroin, entered pursuant to a guilty plea, holding that the district court did not err in accepting Defendant's…
Date: November 9, 2020
Docket Number: 20-1125
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit denied Petitioner's petition for review of the final decision of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (the FMSCA) determining that Sorreda Transport, LLC's business safety rating was…
Date: November 5, 2020
Docket Number: 20-1208
Justia Opinion Summary: In this case, the First Circuit held that a viable substantive due process state-created danger claim was presented against two Maine State Police officers and that the district court erred in granting the officers'…
Date: October 30, 2020
Docket Number: 18-1679
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant's sentence for two counts of production of child pornography and two counts of transportation of a minor with the intent to engage in criminal activity, holding that the sentence was…
Date: October 29, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1746
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court granting judgment to the Commissioner of the Maine Department of Education in this federal constitutional challenge to the requirement of Maine's tuition…
Date: October 29, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1818
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the order of the federal district court allowing Rhode Island's motion to return to state court its state court complaint against several oil and gas companies for damage caused by fossil…
Date: October 28, 2020
Docket Number: 19-2028
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the district court's dismissal of this complaint alleging that Puerto Rico's series of laws that affect the relationship between public employees in the Commonwealth and their employers…
Date: October 27, 2020
Docket Number: 18-2170
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant's sentence of forty-two months' imprisonment for illegal possession of a machine gun, holding that the sentence was both procedurally and substantively reasonable. On appeal,…
Date: October 23, 2020
Docket Number: 18-1386
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant's sentence for firearm-related convictions, holding that the district court properly applied two sentencing enhancements in this case. Defendant pleaded guilty to an information…
Date: October 23, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1621
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant's conviction of violating federal laws by conspiring to receive, and of receiving, kickbacks from the pharmaceutical company Insys in exchange for prescribing its synthetic opioid,…
Date: October 22, 2020
Docket Number: 18-2010
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court sentencing Defendant to an upwardly variant sixty-month term of immurement for illegal possession of a machine gun, holding that Defendant's sentence was…
Date: October 21, 2020
Docket Number: 18-1018
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the order of the district court denying Petitioner's second 28 U.S.C. 2255 petition, holding that the district court did not err. Petitioner was convicted of using a firearm during a crime of…
Date: October 19, 2020
Docket Number: 18-1897
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant's convictions and sentence for three counts related to distribution of heroin and one count of discharging a firearm in furtherance of a drug crime, holding that the district court…
Date: October 15, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1948
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant's conviction of possession with intent to distribute oxycodone, holding that the district court did not err in denying Defendant's motion to suppress. Defendant's vehicle was…
Date: October 9, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1720
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the district court's grant of summary judgment on Plaintiff's racial discrimination and retaliation claims against the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA), holding that both…
Date: October 9, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1950
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the decision of the district court denying Defendant's motion to suppress drug evidence that was seized without a warrant after an automobile stop and drug evidence from a subsequent visual…
Date: October 8, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1191
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit reversed the decision of the district court denying Defendant's motion to strike the government's notice of intent to seek the death penalty on retrial in this case, holding that double jeopardy barred…
Date: October 7, 2020
Docket Number: 17-1192
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court granting summary judgment in favor of the Town of Pembroke, New Hampshire and dismissing the complaint filed by Signs for Jesus and Hillside Baptist Church…
Date: October 7, 2020
Docket Numbers: 19-1605, 19-1632
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the order of the district court dismissing Defendants' motion for a new trial after a jury found them guilty of charges arising out of a large-scale marijuana farming operation, holding that…
Date: October 7, 2020
Docket Number: 19-2069
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit vacated the decision of the district court granting summary judgment for Defendants and dismissing Plaintiff's 42 U.S.C. 1983 action on the grounds that Plaintiff's claims were time barred, holding that…
Date: October 7, 2020
Docket Number: 20-1121
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit dismissed Appellant's appeal from the ruling of the district court granting in part and denying in part Avon Products, Inc.'s motion for the district court to tax costs, holding that the appeal was…
Date: October 6, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1238
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant's sentence for carjacking and using a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence, holding that the sentence was both procedurally and substantively reasonable. At the time…
Date: October 2, 2020
Docket Number: 18-1470
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit denied Petitioner's petition for review of a final order of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) denying his applications for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention…
Date: October 2, 2020
Docket Number: 18-1588
Justia Opinion Summary: In this insurance coverage dispute, the First Circuit vacated the decision of the district court holding that United Rentals, Inc. was entitled to defense costs from Scottsdale Insurance Company as an additional insured…
Date: October 2, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1680
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant's conviction for distribution of child pornography and Defendant's sentence, holding that there was no error in the proceedings below. Defendant pleaded guilty to five counts of…
Date: October 1, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1086
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit reversed the condition of Appellant's supervised release that he could not contact his preteen daughter for three years without approval from his probation officer, holding that the district court…
Date: October 1, 2020
Docket Number: 19-9004
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the order of the bankruptcy court granting creditor Schleicher & Stebbins Hotels, LLC (S&S) relief from an automatic stay imposed by section 362 of the Bankruptcy Code, holding that the…
Date: October 1, 2020
Docket Number: 20-1305
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of district court dismissing Plaintiff's case against the City of Boston and several of its police officers, holding that the district court did not abuse its discretion in…
Date: September 30, 2020
Docket Number: 20-1161
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court denying Akebia Pharmaceuticals, Inc.'s motion for a preliminary injunction, holding that the district court did not err or abuse its discretion in denying a…
Date: September 28, 2020
Docket Number: 17-1899
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit vacated the district court's judgment denying Defendant's motion to vacate his 18 U.S.C. 924(c) conviction and to resentence him without a career offender enhancement, holding that because Johnson v.…
Date: September 24, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1813
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant's sentence for federal charges of sex trafficking, drug trafficking, and interstate transportation of a person for prostitution in violation of the Mann Act, holding that the district…
Date: September 22, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1364
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit dismissed for lack of appellate jurisdiction Defendant's appeal from the order of the district court granting Plaintiff's motion for summary judgment on its diversity action seeking a declaratory…
Date: September 22, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1516
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit denied Petitioner's petition for review of determinations by the immigration judge (IJ) and Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) denying Petitioner's request for withholding of removal and voluntary…
Date: September 21, 2020
Docket Number: 18-2219
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant's convictions for his role as a leader and organizer of a major drug-trafficking organization, holding that the district court did not err in denying Defendant's pro se motions to…
Date: September 21, 2020
Docket Number: 19-2192
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit denied Petitioner's petition for judicial review of the decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) affirming the judgment of the immigration judge (IJ) denying Petitioner's applications for…
Date: September 17, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1476
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant's conviction of one count of transporting child pornography and one count of possessing child pornography, holding that Defendant's sentence was substantively reasonable and that the…
Date: September 16, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1349
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the ruling of the district court granting Defendant's motion for a judgment of acquittal on the grounds that there was insufficient evidence to support Defendant's conviction of one count of…
Date: September 16, 2020
Docket Numbers: 19-1490, 19-1602
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit denied the petition filed by United Nurses and Allied Professionals (the Union) for review of the decision of the National Labor Relations Board (the Board) ruling that lobbying expenses are…
Date: September 15, 2020
Docket Numbers: 19-1490, 19-1602
Date: September 15, 2020
Docket Number: 19-2280
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit denied Appellant's petition for review of the decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) dismissing Appellant's appeal from the decision of the immigration judge (IJ) denying Appellant's…
Date: September 9, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1678
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the decision of the district court dismissing this lawsuit challenging Defendants' alleged manipulation of natural gas pipeline capacity for failure to state a claim, holding that any…
Date: September 9, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1879
Justia Opinion Summary: In this ERISA action, the First Circuit affirmed the rulings of the district court entering judgment for Defendants on remand and refusing to award Plaintiff attorneys' fees for her success on a prior appeal, holding…
Date: September 8, 2020
Docket Numbers: 17-1181, 18-1047
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant's sentence for being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition and for unlawfully possessing a machine-gun but remanded for the district court to docket a sealed copy of the…
Date: September 4, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1235
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court dismissing this case for lack of subject matter jurisdiction under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA), holding that the FTCA's discretionary-function applied…
Date: September 1, 2020
Docket Number: 18-1640
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant's convictions and sentences for several sex crimes, including using a facility and means of interstate commerce to knowingly induce a thirteen-year-old female to engage in sexual…
Date: September 1, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1838
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit vacated the preliminary injunction granted to Plaintiffs in this case, holding that the district court abused its discretion in finding that Plaintiffs were likely to succeed on the merits of their…
Date: August 31, 2020
Docket Number: 18-1952
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant's sentence that he received for his conviction for possession of a machine gun, holding that the sentence was neither procedurally nor substantively unreasonable. After the district…
Date: August 31, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1649
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit reversed the judgment of the district court vacating a portion of an arbitration award that voided the guaranty agreement at issue in this case, holding that, contrary to the conclusion of the district…
Date: August 31, 2020
Docket Numbers: 19-1794, 19-1797, 19-1803
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit granted the petition filed by Algonquin Gas Transmission, LLC for rehearing as to remedy in this case where the First Circuit vacated the grant of an air permit by the Massachusetts Department of…
Date: August 25, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1614
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court dismissing Plaintiff's Securities Act claims and finding that Plaintiff did not have standing to bring his Securities Exchange Act claims, holding that…
Date: August 24, 2020
Docket Number: 18-1038
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit reversed the district court's judgment ordering Council 93, a regional division of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), to reconstitute its executive board "within…
Date: August 24, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1372
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) ordering Petitioner's removal, holding that Petitioner's state drug conviction was an "aggravated felony" under the Immigration and…
Date: August 24, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1859
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit denied Petitioner's petition for review of an order of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) that denied Petitioner's motion to reconsider his motion to reopen removal proceedings, holding that the BIA…
Date: August 21, 2020
Docket Number: 18-1305
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant's sentence for being a felon in possession of a firearm, holding that the district court did not err in imposing a sentencing enhancement for possessing a firearm "in connection with…
Date: August 21, 2020
Docket Number: 18-2164
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit vacated the judgment of the district court in favor of Defendant on Plaintiff's claim that Defendant failed properly to accommodate his disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), 42…
Date: August 18, 2020
Docket Number: 18-1465
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant's conviction and sentence for drug-trafficking and firearms offenses, holding that the district court did not err in refusing to suppress the evidence obtained from a number of…
Date: August 18, 2020
Docket Number: 18-1994
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court denying Defendants' motions for judgment as a matter of law or, in the alternative, for a new trial or remittitur, holding that the trial court properly found…
Date: August 18, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1313
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant's convictions, entered pursuant to his guilty plea, for eight counts of sexual exploitation of a minor and one count of possession of child pornography and dismissed Defendant's…
Date: August 14, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1003
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit reversed the decision of the district court denying Defendant's motion to dismiss his indictment under the Double Jeopardy Clause of the United States Constitution based on his prior conviction in a…
Date: August 14, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1618
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit dismissed Appellant's appeal from a grant of summary judgment to Ocwen Loan Servicing, LLC in her suit in the District of Massachusetts against Ocwen and the Government National Mortgage Association…
Date: August 12, 2020
Docket Number: 17-1957
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit vacated in part the convictions and sentences that Victor Lara and Kourtney Williams (together, Defendants) each received in connection with a robbery in Maine, holding that Defendants' convictions for…
Date: August 11, 2020
Docket Number: 18-2075
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit vacated the decision of the district court dismissing Plaintiff's breach of contract claim, holding that the court erred in concluding that Plaintiff did not assert a breach of contract claim and abused…
Date: August 10, 2020
Docket Number: 18-2013
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit reversed Defendant's conviction for transporting a minor in interstate or foreign commerce or in any commonwealth, territory or possession of the United States with the intent to engage in criminal…
Date: August 7, 2020
Docket Number: 19-2121
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the decision of the district court denying two local residents' (Appellants) motion to intervene in an action brought T-Mobile Northeast LLC pursuant to the Telecommunications Act of 1996,…
Date: August 7, 2020
Docket Number: 20-1753
Justia Opinion Summary: In this case involving a consent judgment and decree entered on July 30, 2020, in the midst of the pandemic, effective for the September and November 2020 elections suspending Rhode Island's requirement that a voter…
Date: August 6, 2020
Docket Number: 18-1980
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant's convictions of aiding and abetting the wrongful disclosure of individually identifiable health information and obstructing a criminal investigation of a health care offense, holding…
Date: August 6, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1458
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit vacated the district court's dismissal of Plaintiff's claim for a violation of Title IX, 20 U.S.C. 1961 et seq., and affirmed the district court's dismissal of the other claims, holding that Plaintiff's…
Date: August 6, 2020
Docket Number: 19-2167
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit held that the district court did not abuse its discretion in granting a preliminary injunction prohibiting Defendants - Maine's Cape Elizabeth School District and officials of Cape Elizabeth High School…
Date: August 5, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1282
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) denying Petitioner's request for temporary protected status (TPS) under 8 U.S.C. 1254a, holding that the BIA did not err in finding that…
Date: August 3, 2020
Docket Number: 17-1736
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit reversed the decision of the district court denying Defendant's motion to suppress evidence obtained through a search and seizure of his vehicle, holding that the warrantless seizure of Defendant's…
Date: August 3, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1218
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant's conviction for three counts of transmitting threatening interstate communications by telephone and sentence of twenty-seven months' imprisonment, holding that the district court did…
Date: August 3, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1467
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit vacated Defendant's sentence of forty-two months' imprisonment, a year above the top of the guideline sentencing range, for illegal possession of a machine gun, holding that the sentencing court erred…
Date: July 31, 2020
Docket Number: 16-6001
Justia Opinion Summary: In this case involving the bombing at the 2013 Boston Marathon, the First Circuit vacated Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's death sentences and reversed his three convictions for carrying a firearm during crimes of violence, holding…
Date: July 30, 2020
Docket Number: 19-2074
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the bankruptcy court denying Chapter 7 Trustee Nathaniel Richard Hull's objection to Jeffrey Rockwell's homestead exemption listed at the time he filed for Chapter 13…
Date: July 29, 2020
Docket Number: 18-1774
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the sentence imposed on Defendant for intimidating or interfering with United States probation officers (count one) and influencing United States probation officers by threat (count two),…
Date: July 28, 2020
Docket Number: 17-1754
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant's plea-based conviction for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, holding that Defendant's prosecution did not violate constitutional double jeopardy protections. In 2011,…
Date: July 28, 2020
Docket Number: 18-1519
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit denied Defendant's motion to dismiss the indictment for failing to update his registration as required by the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA), 18 U.S.C. 2250(a), holding that…
Date: July 24, 2020
Docket Number: 17-1634
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit denied Petitioner's petition for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals' (BIA) decision to deny his application for deferral of removal under the United Nations Convention Against Torture (CAT),…
Date: July 24, 2020
Docket Number: 19-2090
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit vacated the judgment of the district court dismissing Plaintiff's complaint seeking to recoup assets purportedly gifted to a charitable institution for less than adequate consideration by Plaintiff's…
Date: July 23, 2020
Docket Number: 18-1694
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the order of the district court granting summary judgment in favor of Walden Security and dismissing the suit brought by Plaintiffs for statutory separation pay pursuant to Puerto Rico Law 80,…
Date: July 21, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1104
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit reversed the district court's grant of summary judgment to TLS Management and Marketing Services, LLC (TLS) on its breach of contract claims against Ricky Rodriguez-Toledo, ASG Accounting Solutions…
Date: July 17, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1421
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court denying a judgment creditor's motion for leave to execute on the judgment and its motion for reconsideration, holding that the district court did not abuse…
Date: July 17, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1848
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the district court's denial of Appellants' motion to compel arbitration in this putative class action, holding that the Federal Arbitration Act's (FAA) exemption for "contracts of employment of…
Date: July 16, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1613
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court on resentencing pursuant to the 2018 First Step Act that Defendant was a career offender under section 4B1.1 of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, holding that…
Date: July 10, 2020
Docket Number: 16-1621
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit declined to grant Defendant's petition for leave to file a second or successive motion under 28 U.S.C. 2255 to once again challenge his 18 U.S.C. 924(c)(1)(A) conviction and sentence for use of a…
Date: July 10, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1068
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit vacated the decision of the district court granting the World Boxing Organization's (WBO) motion to compel arbitration of Austin Trout's claim under the Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act (MABRA), 15 U.S.C.…
Date: July 9, 2020
Docket Number: 17-1694
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant's convictions but vacated and remanded his prison sentence and forfeiture order, holding that the district court erred in calculating Defendant's recommended sentencing range and…
Date: July 9, 2020
Docket Number: 18-1263
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed both of Defendant's federal racketeering-related convictions but vacated and remanded the prison sentence, forfeiture order, and restitution order, holding that the district court erred in…
Date: July 9, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1129
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit dismissed Defendant's appeal challenging his sentence imposed in connection with his plea of guilty to drug-related offenses, holding that there was no miscarriage of justice and that the appeal waiver…
Date: July 6, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1856
Justia Opinion Summary: In this breach of contract action, the First Circuit affirmed the district court's grant of summary judgment for Defendants on all of Plaintiff's claims and all of Defendants' counterclaims, holding that, based on…
Date: June 30, 2020
Docket Number: 18-2061
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court granting summary judgment for Defendants and dismissing Plaintiff's tort action stemming from the death of Dr. George Holland while he was vacationing at a…
Date: June 30, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1091
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court denying Appellant's motion to withdraw his guilty plea to one count of reentry after deportation and to dismiss the indictment, holding that the immigration…
Date: June 30, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1123
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant's sentence for two drug-trafficking offenses and two money-laundering offenses, holding that the sentence was neither procedurally nor substantively unreasonable. The district court…
Date: June 24, 2020
Docket Numbers: 19-1130, 19-1132, 19-1131
Date: June 24, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1284
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant's upwardly variant sixty-month sentence imposed in connection with Defendant's plea of guilty to being a prohibited person in possession of firearms and ammunition and being in…
Date: June 24, 2020
Docket Numbers: 19-1582, 19-1626, 19-1625, 19-1583
Date: June 18, 2020
Docket Number: 15-2070
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant's convictions and sentence for robbing an individual of a United States passport, brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon,…
Date: June 18, 2020
Docket Number: 16-2275
Justia Opinion Summary: In this case where Plaintiff's negligence case collapsed halfway through trial due to the exclusion of his only expert witness pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 26 and Fed. R. Evid. 702 the First Circuit reversed the rulings…
Date: June 16, 2020
Docket Number: 18-1916
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant's sentence of 108 months' imprisonment for conspiracy to distribute cocaine after the district court applied a career-offender enhancement under the United States Sentencing…
Date: June 16, 2020
Docket Numbers: 19-1130, 19-1132, 19-1131
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the district court's dismissal of Appellant's claims in three putative class action lawsuits against Defendants - Nestle USA, Inc., Mars, Inc., and The Hersey Company - holding that Appellant…
Date: June 16, 2020
Docket Numbers: 19-1582, 19-1626, 19-1625, 19-1583
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit reversed the judgment of the district court granting Defendants' motions to suppress all evidence obtained directly by a pole camera, holding that the doctrine of stare decisis controlled this case and…
Date: June 16, 2020
Docket Numbers: 19-1794, 19-1803, 19-1797, 17-1797
Date: June 15, 2020
Docket Number: 18-1199
Justia Opinion Summary: In this qui tam action, the First Circuit affirmed the decision of the district court denying the request of Concilio De Salud Integral De Loiza, Inc. (CSILO), on the eve of trial, to amend the pretrial order to include…
Date: June 15, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1395
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant's sentence for conspiring to deal in firearms without a license and dealing in firearms without a license on a theory of aiding and abetting, holding that Defendant's challenges to…
Date: June 15, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1524
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit vacated the decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) dismissing Petitioner's appeal of the immigration judge's (IJ) claims for relief and ordering her removed to El Salvador, holding that the…
Date: June 11, 2020
Docket Number: 18-2197
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant's conviction for carrying and using a firearm during and in relation to, and possessing the firearm in furtherance of, a drug trafficking crime (Count Three), holding that Defendant's…
Date: June 9, 2020
Docket Number: 18-1190
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant's convictions and sentence for possession of firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking crimes and of possession with intent to distribute heroin and cocaine base, holding that…
Date: June 5, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1424
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the district court's judgment reversing the magistrate's order that had quashed an administrative subpoena duces tecum as to the recordings of certain telephone conversations, holding that the…
Date: June 5, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1865
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit reversed the order of the district court denying arbitration in this negligence case, holding that an arbitration clause in a residency agreement between an assisted living facility and its resident…
Date: June 3, 2020
Docket Numbers: 19-1794, 19-1797, 19-1803
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit vacated an air permit granted by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) for a proposed natural gas compression station set to be built in Weymouth, Massachusetts as part of…
Date: June 2, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1056
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the district court's dismissal of Appellant's complaint alleging that he received an injury that occurred in connection with his 2015 Delta Airlines flight to London, holding that Appellant's…
Date: June 2, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1852
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court dismissing Appellant's federal and state civil rights claims and state wrongful death claims against the City of Lewiston, the Lewiston School Department…
Date: June 2, 2020
Docket Number: 20-1173
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the district court's denial of Novo Nordisk Inc.'s motion for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction against Thomas Russomano, one of its former employees, and BioMarin…
Date: May 29, 2020
Docket Number: 17-1258
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant's conviction for production of child pornography, holding that the district court did not err in denying Defendant's motion to suppress a video on his cellphone under the private…
Date: May 29, 2020
Docket Number: 18-1621
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the district court's denial of Petitioner's successive federal habeas petition, holding that the sentencing judge did not rely on Petitioner's career-offender designation in setting…
Date: May 26, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1913
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court ruling against Paraflon Investments, Ltd. on its state-law misrepresentation claims against Fullbridge, Inc. and its principals, Peter Olson and Candice…
Date: May 21, 2020
Docket Numbers: 17-1663, 17-1680, 17-1668, 17-1679
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant's convictions for three Hobbs Act robberies, conspiring to commit a Racketeer Influenced an Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) violation, and other offenses but vacated the district…
Date: May 21, 2020
Docket Number: 18-1823
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit vacated the decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) denying Petitioner's motion to reopen sua sponte his immigration proceedings, holding that the BIA departed from his settled course of…
Date: May 20, 2020
Docket Number: 18-2032
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant's convictions of securities and wire fraud and conspiracy to commit securities and wire fraud, holding that there was no reversible error in the proceedings below. Specifically, the…
Date: May 15, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1620
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit denied Petitioner's petition for review of the decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) affirming the immigration judge's decision denying Petitioner's claims for asylum, withholding of…
Date: May 15, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1712
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the order of the district court finding that Plaintiff was disabled as defined under 20 C.F.R. 404.1520 and awarding her benefits, holding that there was very strong evidence of Plaintiff's…
Date: May 13, 2020
Docket Number: 18-1852
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the decision of the district court granting summary judgment for Defendants on Plaintiff's claim under the Age Discrimination and Employment Act (ADEA), 29 U.S.C. 621-634, holding that…
Date: May 13, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1573
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court granting summary judgment for Defendants on Plaintiff's age discrimination and Older Workers Benefit Protection Act (OWBPA) claims, holding that Plaintiff's…
Date: May 11, 2020
Docket Number: 18-1779
Justia Opinion Summary: In this case concerning arbitration agreements, nursing homes, and wrongful death claims under Massachusetts law, the First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court compelling arbitration after first…
Date: May 11, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1386
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court entering summary judgment against Plaintiff and dismissing her complaint asserting claims under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Age…
Date: May 7, 2020
Docket Number: 16-2186
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant's conviction of possessing with intent to distribute controlled substances in a protected area and conspiring to distribute controlled substances in a protected area, holding that the…
Date: May 6, 2020
Docket Number: 17-2131
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit reversed the judgment of the district court dismissing, for failure to state a claim, Plaintiff's complaint alleging that, by labeling Wesson brand vegetable oil (Wesson Oil) "100% Natural," Conagra…
Date: May 4, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1262
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit issued this narrow opinion in response to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts's appeal from the district court's denial of its "Motion Regarding Substantial Compliance and To Terminate Monitoring and…
Date: May 1, 2020
Docket Number: 17-1769
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court dismissing Plaintiff's complaint alleging that Defendants, his former employer along with its administrators, conspired to deprive him of his First, Fourth,…
Date: May 1, 2020
Docket Number: 18-1937
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit denied Petitioner's petition seeking review of the Board of Immigration Appeals' (BIA) denial of her untimely motion to reopen her family's removal proceedings, holding that the BIA's denial of…
Date: May 1, 2020
Docket Numbers: 18-2087, 18-2089
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit vacated the district court's order denying in part Defendants' motions to dismiss this suit brought Plaintiffs, a putative class of shippers who use the services of ocean freight carriers to import…
Date: May 1, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1656
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court denying Appellant's petition for a writ of habeas corpus, holding that, under the highly deferential standard prescribed by the Antiterrorism and Effective…
Date: April 30, 2020
Docket Number: 18-1418
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the imposition of a role-in-the-offense enhancement in connection with Defendant's conviction for racketeering conspiracy under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), 18…
Date: April 30, 2020
Docket Number: 18-1896
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court denying Appellant's motion to dismiss the indictment and affirmed the sentence imposed, holding that the district court correctly denied the motion to dismiss…
Date: April 29, 2020
Docket Numbers: 14-1692, 14-2098, 14-1870, 14-1919
Justia Opinion Summary: In these cases against four defendants - Manuel De Jesus Rosario-Perez (Rosario), Jorge Gomez-Gonzalez (Gomez), Bryant Setiawan-Ramos (Setiawan), and Santiago Hernandez-Rosa (Hernandez) - the First Circuit affirmed the…
Date: April 24, 2020
Docket Number: 18-2100
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit held that the requirements for establishing membership in a particular social group in support of a request for asylum or withholding of removal do not categorically preclude applicants from…
Date: April 24, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1457
Justia Opinion Summary: In this class action lawsuit stemming from the 2011 nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (FNPP) in Japan, the First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the United States District Court for the…
Date: April 23, 2020
Docket Number: 17-1967
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit reversed the district court's order sanctioning Attorney for failing to appear at a status conference, holding that where Attorney was fined without first being given a chance to show cause or explain…
Date: April 22, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1174
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the district court's grant of summary judgment against Appellant and dismissing his race discrimination and retaliation claims against the Maine Department of Corrections (MDOC), holding that…
Date: April 21, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1908
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit held that the New Hampshire Judicial Retirement Plan (Plan) does not allow a former judge who resigned with sufficient years of creditable service, but before reaching the minimum retirement age, to…
Date: April 21, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1961
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the decision of the district court granting summary judgment in favor of Employer in this disability discrimination case brought by Plaintiff, a former employee, holding that the district court…
Date: April 20, 2020
Docket Number: 17-1851
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the district court's denial of HIMA San Pablo Caguas's motion for judgment as a matter of law as well as its remitted verdict after a jury found HIMA responsible for ten percent of Plaintiff's…
Date: April 20, 2020
Docket Numbers: 18-1372, 18-1608
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed in part and vacated in part the judgment of the district court dismissing Plaintiff's case against various defendants, holding that the district court did not err in dismissing Plaintiff's…
Date: April 20, 2020
Docket Number: 18-1461
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant's upwardly variant sentence for one count of possession with intent to distribute cocaine and one count of using a firearm during and in relation to a drug-trafficking crime, holding…
Date: April 17, 2020
Docket Number: 15-2421
Justia Opinion Summary: In this lawsuit arising out of a foreclosure sale the First Circuit affirmed the district court's dismissal of Edythe Dyer's claims arguing that U.S. Bank was not a proper party to utilize the statutory power of sale,…
Date: April 17, 2020
Docket Number: 16-2274
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit summarily affirmed the district court’s dismissal of Plaintiffs’ claims that HSBC Bank USA, N.A. could not foreclose on their property under Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 244, 14 and that the mortgage encumbering…
Date: April 15, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1382
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the district court's dismissal of the complaint in this case for want of jurisdiction, holding that personal jurisdiction could not constitutionally be exercised over Defendant in…
Date: April 13, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1358
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed in part and vacated in part the decision of the district court dismissing Plaintiff's claims alleging violations of federal copyright law and various Puerto Rico laws, holding that the district…
Date: April 10, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1390
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit declared that exclusion of otherwise eligible residents of Puerto Rico from receiving the disability benefits that are granted to persons residing in the fifty States, the District of Columbia, and the…
Date: April 10, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1677
Justia Opinion Summary: In this lawsuit brought against three Boston police officers who were involved in breaking up a party and arresting Plaintiffs, the First Circuit reversed the judgment for Plaintiffs, holding that the officers were…
Date: April 10, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1754
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the district court's entry of summary judgment in favor of the Saco, Maine Shaw's Supermarket on Plaintiff's claim that Shaw's owed a duty to protect its patrons from foreseeable harm and that…
Date: April 10, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1826
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court dismissing Plaintiffs' breach of contract action against Defendant, their insurer, holding that the district court properly dismissed for failure to state a…
Date: April 9, 2020
Docket Number: 18-1265
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant's sentence of 100 months of imprisonment imposed for his convictions of possession of a firearm by a prohibited person and illegal possession of a machine gun, holding that the…
Date: April 9, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1557
Justia Opinion Summary: In this complaint alleging that Defendants intentionally or recklessly misled investors about Ocular Therapeutix, Inc.'s manufacturing problems the First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court dismissing…
Date: April 9, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1894
Justia Opinion Summary: In this case, a byproduct of litigation stemming from the derailment of a Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway, Ltd. (MMA) freight train carrying crude oil in Lac-Megantic, Quebec, the First Circuit affirmed the district…
Date: April 8, 2020
Docket Numbers: 16-1424, 16-1435, 16-1474, 16-1482
Date: April 8, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1611
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court granting a preliminary junction to Defendant's former employer (Plaintiff), a healthcare company incorporated in Delaware, that enforced a nonsolicitation…
Date: April 8, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1615
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit reversed the order of the district court denying Defendant's request for a sentence reduction under Section 404 of the First Step Act of 2018, holding that the district court erred in finding that…
Date: April 7, 2020
Docket Number: 18-1784
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit dismissed this interlocutory appeal for lack of appellate jurisdiction and remanded the matter to the district court, holding that Appellant's challenge to the district court's denial of summary…
Date: April 3, 2020
Docket Number: 18-2085
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the order of the district court granting summary judgment in favor of the United States and the Director of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (collectively, the Government)…
Date: April 2, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1361
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court dismissing Plaintiff's 2018 complaint seeking vacated of a forfeiture order and return of his forfeited property, holding that Honeycutt v. United States, 137…
Date: April 1, 2020
Docket Number: 18-1193
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant's sentence imposed in connection with his plea of guilty of possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance, holding that the sentence was both procedurally and…
Date: April 1, 2020
Docket Number: 18-1907
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court giving Defendant a consecutive 144-month sentence for two robbery convictions rather than making the sentence concurrent with another sentence he was already…
Date: April 1, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1212
Justia Opinion Summary: In this diversity case, the First Circuit affirmed the district court's entry of summary judgment against Clarendon National Insurance Company's claim that Philadelphia Indemnity Insurance Company breached its contract…
Date: March 31, 2020
Docket Number: 18-2235
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court dismissing Appellants' complaint challenging the constitutionality of the winner-take-all method for selecting presidential electors that the Commonwealth of…
Date: March 27, 2020
Docket Number: 18-1277
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant's convictions for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute marijuana, conspiracy to distribute marijuana, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and money laundering, holding…
Date: March 27, 2020
Docket Number: 18-2147
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant's convictions for one count of conspiracy and one count of structuring the export of monetary transactions, holding that there was no error in the proceedings below. Defendant's…
Date: March 27, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1429
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court finding that Plaintiffs, patients whose healthcare providers used eClinicalWorks, LLC (ECW) software to record and store their medical records, lacked…
Date: March 25, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1101
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant's convictions of three counts of securities fraud for insider trading, holding that Defendant was not entitled to relief on any of his claims. Specifically, the First Circuit held…
Date: March 25, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1624
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court granting Defendants' motion to dismiss Plaintiffs' complaint alleging that Defendants knew that Mount Ida College was on the brink of insolvency but concealed…
Date: March 24, 2020
Docket Numbers: 18-2057, 18-2181
Justia Opinion Summary: In this dispute over the handling of brokerage accounts the First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the federal district court dismissing Plaintiffs' complaint against the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA)…
Date: March 24, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1337
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit vacated the district court's decision granting summary judgment to the City of Somerville, Massachusetts and dismissing Plaintiff's claim that the City unlawfully forced him to retire as a police…
Date: March 24, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1802
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court ruling in favor of the Rhode Island municipalities on their suit seeking to invalidate the conditions that the United States Department of Justice (DOJ)…
Date: March 24, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1819
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court confirming a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) arbitral award denying certain claims against Concorde Investment Services, LLC, holding that the…
Date: March 23, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1202
Justia Opinion Summary: Given the fundamental change in the facts of this case since the appeal was first filed and briefed the First Circuit remanded this action to the district court for reconsideration of its ruling dismissing the claims as…
Date: March 23, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1383
Justia Opinion Summary: In this case arising from a directive issued by the EPA that prohibits EPA grant recipients from sitting on the EPA's twenty-two scientific advisory committees the First Circuit reversed in part the judgment of the…
Date: March 20, 2020
Docket Number: 18-1412
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court denying Defendant's motion for a new trial, in which Defendant sought to vacate seventeen convictions that he received and that resulted from two separate…
Date: March 20, 2020
Docket Number: 18-2244
Justia Opinion Summary: In this insurance dispute, the First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court granting summary judgment in favor of Defendants and dismissing Plaintiff's suit to recover unreimbursed defense costs that a…
Date: March 13, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1452
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of Orgill, Inc. in this case alleging copyright infringement claims, holding that a copyright licensee given the unrestricted right to…
Date: March 13, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1719
Justia Opinion Summary: In this appeal concerning whether a settlement contract under Rhode Island law was formed after a personal injury lawsuit was filed the First Circuit certified to the Rhode Island Supreme Court the question of what is…
Date: March 13, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1764
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit held that the special measure of constitutional protection to which police officers, in the motor vehicle context, performing community care taking functions are entitled extends to police officers…
Date: March 13, 2020
Docket Numbers: 19-2100, 19-2217
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the decisions of the district court ordering the return of A.C.A., the child that Mother "wrongfully removed" from Brazil, holding that the district court did not err in finding that the two…
Date: March 11, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1496
Justia Opinion Summary: In this insurance dispute, the First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court ruling for Plaintiff on her action brought under Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 93A and ch. 176D and awarding trebled damages in the amount of…
Date: March 10, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1161
Justia Opinion Summary: In this case arising out of a petition for bankruptcy filed by the Montreal Maine & Atlantic Railway (MMA) the First Circuit affirmed the decision of the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel (BAP) upholding the judgment of the…
Date: March 9, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1965
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit denied Petitioner's petition for review of the order of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) denying Petitioner's motion to reopen his immigration case, holding that the BIA did not abuse its…
Date: March 6, 2020
Docket Number: 18-1388
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit vacated Defendant's sentence of thirty months in federal prison for violating the terms of his supervised release, holding that the district judge misapplied the Guidelines in concluding that…
Date: March 6, 2020
Docket Number: 18-1629
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant's sentence of more than three years in prison imposed in connection with his violation of supervised release, holding that the district court did not commit reversible error when she…
Date: March 3, 2020
Docket Numbers: 19-1699, 19-1700
Date: February 28, 2020
Docket Number: 18-1405
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit vacated the judgment of the district court designating a magistrate judge to "hear and determine" under 28 U.S.C.(b)(1)(A) a motion to appoint a receiver over certain commercial properties that were the…
Date: February 28, 2020
Docket Number: 18-1605
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant's sentence entered upon Defendant's guilty plea to one count of possessing child pornography, holding that the district court's decision not to impose a below-guidelines sentence was…
Date: February 28, 2020
Docket Numbers: 18-1924, 18-1985
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant's conviction of possession of child pornography, holding that the district court did not err in denying Defendant's motions to suppress and for a hearing pursuant to Franks v.…
Date: February 28, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1638
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the entry of a preliminary injunction enforcing a covenant not to compete included in a restrictive covenant agreement (RCA) that Appellant signed in 2017, holding that the district court did…
Date: February 27, 2020
Docket Number: 16-2484
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the order of the district court finding that the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) incorrectly approved the taking of two areas of land into trust for…
Date: February 27, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1658
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court against Kodak Alaris, Inc. based on the jury finding that Kodak was in breach of its contractual obligation to ITyX Solutions AG except as to the calculation…
Date: February 24, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1247
Justia Opinion Summary: In this insurance dispute, the First Circuit directed entry of summary judgment for Zurich American Insurance Company, holding that Zurich's decision to deny the insured's claim was supported by substantial…
Date: February 20, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1232
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant's convictions for one count of conspiracy to make false statements and to conceal in connection with healthcare benefit programs and two counts of false statements in connection with…
Date: February 20, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1694
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit denied Petitioner's petition for review of an order of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) affirming the denial by an immigration judge (IJ) of his applications for asylum, withholding of removal,…
Date: February 19, 2020
Docket Number: 18-1487
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit reversed the judgment of the district court dismissing this qui tam action under the False Claims Act (FCA) against PharMerica, Inc. under the public disclosure bar, holding that relator James Banigan…
Date: February 14, 2020
Docket Number: 18-1834
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit denied two petitions for judicial review challenging the orders of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) first finding that Petitioner was not entitled to asylum, withholding of removal, or CAT…
Date: February 14, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1155
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the district court's grant of summary judgment on Appellant's federal law claims under the Age Discrimination and Employment Act, and on the state-law claims for discrimination, retaliation…
Date: February 13, 2020
Docket Number: 18-2086
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit held that Sanofi-Aventis U.S., LLC improperly submitted a patent for listing in "the Orange Book" and that Sanofi was potentially liable under the antitrust laws to drug purchasers who were allegedly…
Date: February 11, 2020
Docket Number: 18-1289
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant's Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA) sentence, holding that the district court did not err in determining that Defendant's prior conviction for second-degree murder and two prior…
Date: February 5, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1245
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the decision of the district court entering summary judgment against Plaintiff Jay Furtado and in favor of Defendants, attorney Amy Page Oberg and the law firm DarrowEverett LLP, and dismissing…
Date: February 3, 2020
Docket Number: 18-9007
Justia Opinion Summary: In this bankruptcy case, the First Circuit vacated the decision of the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel (BAP) and remanded with instructions that the case be returned to the bankruptcy court, holding that the bankruptcy court…
Date: January 31, 2020
Docket Numbers: 18-1189, 18-1395, 18-1258
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court convicting Defendants of mail fraud and violations of section one of the Sherman Act, holding that Defendants were not entitled to reversal of their…
Date: January 31, 2020
Docket Number: 18-1279
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court denying Plaintiff's claims of sex discrimination and retaliation on summary judgment and declining Plaintiff's request to alter or amend that ruling under…
Date: January 31, 2020
Docket Number: 18-1597
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant's federal drug-trafficking conviction and his twenty-year mandatory minimum recidivist sentence, holding that Defendant's claims on appeal lacked merit. A federal grand jury sitting…
Date: January 30, 2020
Docket Numbers: 19-1699, 19-1700
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the Title III court granting summary judgment against Bondholders, who owned bonds issued in 2008 by the Employees Retirement System of the Government of the Commonwealth of…
Date: January 28, 2020
Docket Number: 18-2103
Justia Opinion Summary: In this appeal of a bankruptcy court's decision on the merits of all the claims before it the First Circuit dismissed in part Appellant's appeal from the district court's decision affirming the bankruptcy court rulings…
Date: January 28, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1283
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit dismissed Petitioner's petition for review of a decision of the Bureau of Immigration Appeals (BIA) rejecting reopening and reconsideration of denial of relief from removal, holding that the limitations…
Date: January 27, 2020
Docket Number: 18-1990
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the decision of the district court granting summary judgment to Defendants on Plaintiff's Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), 29 U.S.C. 621, and relinquishing supplemental jurisdiction…
Date: January 27, 2020
Docket Number: 18-2028
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the district court decision denying Appellant's petition for habeas corpus relief, holding that the state court's evaluation of Appellant's constitutional claim was not contrary to, nor…
Date: January 27, 2020
Docket Number: 18-2127
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court in favor of Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada finding that Sun Life properly permitted an offset of Appellant's benefits under tis employer-sponsored…
Date: January 24, 2020
Docket Number: 17-2136
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant's conviction for conspiracy to commit kidnapping in violation of 18 U.S.C. 1201(c), for which Defendant was sentenced to life imprisonment, holding that Defendant's challenges to his…
Date: January 24, 2020
Docket Number: 18-1643
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant's conviction of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute oxycodone, holding that the district court did not err in denying Defendant's motion to…
Date: January 24, 2020
Docket Number: 18-2115
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the decision of the district court granting summary judgment to the Administrator of the United States General Services Administration (GSA) and dismissing the discrimination and retaliation…
Date: January 24, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1406
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed in part and vacated in part the judgment of the district court entered judgment for the pleadings on all of Plaintiff's claims, holding that Plaintiff's state certiorari claim did not fail to…
Date: January 17, 2020
Docket Number: 18-1969
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant's conviction of interstate transportation of a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, holding that the district court did not err in denying Defendant's motion to…
Date: January 17, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1143
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the district court's dismissal of Plaintiff's claims alleging that Defendants violated the Massachusetts Consumer Protection Act, Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 93A, and the Massachusetts Fair Debt…
Date: January 17, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1311
Justia Opinion Summary: In this breach of contract action the First Circuit affirmed as not clearly erroneous the district court's judgment in favor of Defendant after a bench trial finding no binding contract between the parties, holding that…
Date: January 17, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1444
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the decision of the district court denying Appellant's motion to vacate an arbitrator's award, holding that Appellant's attack on the merits of the arbitral award was unavailing. IBC Advanced…
Date: January 15, 2020
Docket Number: 18-1391
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit reversed Defendant's conviction, holding that the district court erred in denying Defendant's motion to suppress seized evidence because law enforcement officers' warrantless entry into the house where…
Date: January 10, 2020
Docket Number: 18-2118
Justia Opinion Summary: In this case involving a dispute between Portland Pipe Line Corporation (PPLC) and the City of South Portland (the City) the First Circuit certified three questions to the Maine Law Court because this clash raised…
Date: January 9, 2020
Docket Number: 18-1965
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant's sentence imposed in connection with his plea of guilty to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances and possession with intent to…
Date: January 3, 2020
Docket Number: 18-1802
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the sentence imposed in connection with Defendant's plea of guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition, holding that Defendant's appeal waiver barred this…
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