2022 First Circuit US Court of Appeals Case Law
Date: August 11, 2022
Docket Number: 19-2099
Justia Opinion Summary: In this dispute over an award of attorneys' fees under 42 U.S.C. 1988, the First Circuit identified only one defect in the award, thus vacating the existing fee award in the amount of $20,243 and remanding to the…
Date: August 11, 2022
Docket Number: 21-1278
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the order of the district court granting summary judgment in favor of the Town of Brookline and its Selectmen and dismissing Plaintiffs' claims of unconstitutional mistreatment by the Town's…
Date: August 10, 2022
Docket Number: 20-1311
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit vacated Defendant's conviction of attempting to persuade, induce, or entice a minor to engage in criminal sexual activity, holding that the trial was tainted by the erroneous limitation of Defendant's…
Date: August 10, 2022
Docket Number: 21-1632
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the order of the district court granting summary judgment in favor of Defendants and dismissing Plaintiffs' hybrid breach of contract and fair representation claim, their Takings Clause claim,…
Date: August 9, 2022
Docket Numbers: 21-1055, 21-1323
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit denied Petitioners' petition for review in this action challenging a final rule promulgated by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) that set the framework through which applicants may register to…
Date: August 9, 2022
Docket Number: 21-1820
Date: August 9, 2022
Docket Numbers: 21-1882, 21-1887
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the order of the federal district court rejecting a challenge to the ruling by a Maine Department of Education hearing officer that the Falmouth School District violated the Individuals with…
Date: August 5, 2022
Docket Number: 20-1936
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court dismissing this case against Allscripts Healthcare Solutions, Inc. (AHS) on personal jurisdiction grounds but vacated the dismissal as to Allscripts…
Date: August 5, 2022
Docket Number: 21-1215
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant's conviction of three counts of engaging in the business of dealing a firearm without a license and sentence of sixty months' imprisonment, holding that there was no error or abuse…
Date: August 5, 2022
Docket Number: 21-1657
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court dismissing this complaint against Karoypharm Therapuetics, Inc. and its corporate officers (collectively, Defendants) alleging securities fraud in violation…
Date: August 4, 2022
Docket Number: 19-1992
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit vacated Appellant's upwardly variant sentence of sixty months imposed in connection with his plea of guilty to one count of racketeering, holding that the sentencing court procedurally erred by basing…
Date: August 4, 2022
Docket Number: 20-2023
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the order of the district court granting summary judgment dismissing Plaintiff's federal claims against Brown University and reversed the grant of summary judgment as to Plaintiff's state law…
Date: August 4, 2022
Docket Number: 21-1770
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit dismissed this appeal from the dismissal of a 42 U.S.C. 1983 suit filed by Plaintiffs, two college students, against Defendants, their former universities and university officials, asserting…
Date: August 2, 2022
Docket Number: 21-1842
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit dismissed this appeal, in which Appellant sought to override an appeal waiver and to proceed with an appeal based on the alleged ineffective assistance of his counsel, holding that ineffective…
Date: July 28, 2022
Docket Number: 20-2073
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit vacated in part and reversed in part the judgment of the district court in favor of Defendants in this action brought against the owners of a fishing vessel on which Plaintiff was a seaman alleging that…
Date: July 28, 2022
Docket Number: 21-1299
Justia Opinion Summary: In this bankruptcy action, the First Circuit vacated the judgment of the district court affirming the order of the bankruptcy court granting summary judgment against Oriental Bank on all of the claims asserted against…
Date: July 25, 2022
Docket Numbers: 21-1651, 21-1652
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court in favor of an employee's widow in this insurance dispute, holding that the employee did not lose life insurance coverage under his employer's group policy…
Date: July 21, 2022
Docket Number: 21-1757
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part the order of the United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island granting summary judgment in favor of Chicago Title Insurance Company (CTIC) and…
Date: July 18, 2022
Docket Number: 22-1119
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the order of the Title III court confirming a plan of adjustments for the debts of the Commonwealth and two of its instrumentalities in this action brought under the Title III of the Puerto…
Date: July 15, 2022
Docket Number: 21-1352
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court finding Defendants liable for failing to pay all of the wages owed to Plaintiff, their former employee, holding that there was no error in the district…
Date: July 15, 2022
Docket Number: 21-1574
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court resentencing Defendant while applying two sentencing enhancements under the United States Sentencing Guidelines, holding that both enhancements…
Date: July 13, 2022
Docket Number: 21-1209
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant's convictions for unlawfully possessing firearms and ammunition as a convicted felon and for unlawfully possessing a firearm with an obliterated serial number, holding that Defendant…
Date: July 13, 2022
Docket Number: 21-2019
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit reversed the order of the district court denying Defendant's motion for summary judgment as to Plaintiff's whistleblower retaliation claim brought under section 1514A of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, holding…
Date: July 12, 2022
Docket Numbers: 21-1873, 21-1874
Justia Opinion Summary: In this dispute between the Maine lobster industry and the National Marine Fisheries Service (the Agency) over a rule barring frequently employed methods of lobstering the First Circuit lifted its issuance of a…
Date: July 11, 2022
Docket Number: 21-1198
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the district court's judgmentsentencing Defendant to a 188-month term of imprisonment for his conviction of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute on kilogram or more…
Date: July 8, 2022
Docket Number: 22-1002
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court denying Appellant's habeas petition, holding that the Massachusetts state court reasonably applied federal law in deeming the Commonwealth's proof…
Date: July 7, 2022
Docket Number: 21-1149
Justia Opinion Summary: In this lawsuit challenging both the residency and voter-registration requirements under Maine law the First Circuit affirmed the order issuing a preliminary injunction preventing the residency requirement and…
Date: July 7, 2022
Docket Number: 22-1435
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit denied an emergency stay sought by Plaintiffs of a disclosure order in this challenge to the Maine vaccine mandate for healthcare workers as it stood on October 19, 2021, holding that Plaintiffs were…
Date: July 5, 2022
Docket Number: 20-1145
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant's conviction for four offenses relating to Defendant's possession of a handgun with an obliterated serial number and drugs found within the bag that he was carrying, holding that…
Date: June 28, 2022
Docket Number: 21-1171
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the district court's judgment dismissing Plaintiffs' lawsuit asserting race-based discrimination and retaliation in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, holding that the district…
Date: June 28, 2022
Docket Number: 21-1567
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court granting Defendant's motion to dismiss this case brought against him by Plaintiff, his previous employer, for lack of personal jurisdiction, holding that the…
Date: June 28, 2022
Docket Number: 21-1833
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit reversed the judgment of the district court denying arbitration requested by two unions - the United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers…
Date: June 27, 2022
Docket Number: 21-1457
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit vacated the judgment of the district court sentencing Defendant to the statutory maximum of two years' imprisonment for violating two conditions of his supervised release, holding that the written…
Date: June 23, 2022
Docket Numbers: 20-2187, 21-1327
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit vacated the judgment of the trial judge denying Defendants' motion for a new trial based on improper comments by the prosecutor, holding that the district court's denial of the new trial motions was…
Date: June 23, 2022
Docket Number: 21-1023
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant's conviction of two counts of criminal copyright infringement and one count of mail fraud and his sentence of concurrent prison terms of thirty-six months for the copyright counts and…
Date: June 22, 2022
Docket Number: 21-1071
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court rejecting Appellants' argument that the Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico acted arbitrarily and capriciously in objecting to four laws…
Date: June 22, 2022
Docket Number: 21-1483
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant's conviction and sentence for one count of possession of child pornography, holding that Defendant suffered no prejudice from any claims deficient performance of his trial counsel.…
Date: June 21, 2022
Docket Number: 21-1822
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court entering summary judgment in favor of Defendant Thomas Wakefield and dismissing Plaintiff Pleasantdale Condominiums LLC's claims alleging nondisclosure of…
Date: June 17, 2022
Docket Number: 21-1330
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit vacated the district court's grant of summary judgment in this mortgage dispute, holding that the district court abused its discretion in denying Appellants' motion to defer the adjudication of a…
Date: June 16, 2022
Docket Number: 21-1411
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit upheld the judgment of the district court denying Defendant's motion to dismiss the indictment against him and convicting Defendant of interstate violation of a protection order under 18 U.S.C.…
Date: June 15, 2022
Docket Number: 19-2134
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court denying Appellant's petition for habeas corpus, in which he alleged ineffective assistance of counsel, holding that Appellant failed to establish that his…
Date: June 14, 2022
Docket Number: 20-1571
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit denied a writ of habeas corpus sought by Petitioner under 28 U.S.C. 2254 to vacate her conviction for murder in the first degree, holding that there was no error. Petitioner was convicted of…
Date: June 14, 2022
Docket Number: 20-1689
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part the judgment of the district court dismissing Plaintiff's complaint against Harvard University for breach of contract and other related claims, holding that the…
Date: June 14, 2022
Docket Numbers: 21-1128, 21-1590
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit granted a petition for review of a ruling by the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) that affirmed the final order of removal entered against Petitioner pursuant to 8 U.S.C. 1229-1229a and vacated the…
Date: June 14, 2022
Docket Number: 21-1834
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the decision of the district court granting summary judgment in favor of Acadia Insurance Company in this action brought by Railroad Avenue Properties, LLC for breach contract to recover…
Date: June 10, 2022
Docket Numbers: 20-1108, 20-1194
Justia Opinion Summary: Watkins was convicted of first-degree murder in Massachusetts state court in 2005 for a fatal 2003 shooting. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed his conviction. His federal habeas petition was denied. The First…
Date: June 8, 2022
Docket Numbers: 20-2078, 20-2079
Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeals of the First Circuit affirmed Defendant's conviction of two counts of committing a hate crime and one count of conspiring to commit a hate crime under the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr, Hate…
Date: June 7, 2022
Docket Number: 21-1649
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit certified to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) a question regarding whether Massachusetts recognizes a common-law duty for insurers to cover costs incurred by an insured party to prevent…
Date: June 3, 2022
Docket Number: 21-1202
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court dismissing the claims brought by Legal Sea Foods under Massachusetts law against Strathmore Insurance Co. following Strathmore's denial of Legal's request for…
Date: June 3, 2022
Docket Number: 21-1219
Justia Opinion Summary: In this case arising from losses that SAS International, Ltd. (SAS) claimed to have suffered during the COVID-19 pandemic the First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court granting General Star Indemnity…
Date: June 2, 2022
Docket Number: 21-1120
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant's convictions for receipt and possession of child pornography, holding that the district court did not err in denying Defendant's pre-trial motion to suppress evidence obtained…
Date: June 1, 2022
Docket Number: 21-1126
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the order of the district court granting summary judgment for Arch Insurance Co. and dismissing this diversity case brought by Graphic Builders, LLC, a general contractor, seeking to enforce a…
Date: May 31, 2022
Docket Number: 21-1333
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit reversed the decision of the district court that the prosecutor in the underlying Rhode Island case transgressed the Batson rule in the course of jury selection but that Petitioner was not entitled to…
Date: May 27, 2022
Docket Number: 21-1044
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court entering summary judgment in favor of Dr. Peter Millett and dismissing Joseph Shea's alleged breach of oral contract action, holding that the statute of…
Date: May 26, 2022
Docket Number: 21-1477
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court revoking Defendant's supervised release and adding to the terms of his supervised release a monitoring condition as to Defendant's computer activities to…
Date: May 23, 2022
Docket Number: 19-1818
Justia Opinion Summary: In this climate-change case, the First Circuit once more affirmed the order of the federal district court allowing Rhode Island's motion to return to state court its state court complaint against oil and gas companies…
Date: May 23, 2022
Docket Number: 21-1443
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court sentencing Defendant to a 150-month term of immurement in connection with his plea of guilty to conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to…
Date: May 20, 2022
Docket Number: 20-1857
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court dismissing all claims in this dispute between brokerage customers of Defendant, who purchased special Puerto Rico securities during a recession but before the…
Date: May 19, 2022
Docket Number: 20-1366
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court concluding that Defendant violated the conditions of his supervised release term and the length of his revocation sentence, holding that any error was…
Date: May 18, 2022
Docket Numbers: 21-1293, 21-1300
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit vacated the judgment of the district court granting summary judgment to Defendants and dismissing Plaintiff's claims challenging the termination of his employment on free speech grounds, holding that…
Date: May 17, 2022
Docket Number: 21-1301
Justia Opinion Summary: In this interlocutory appeal, the First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court denying Defendant's motion to dismiss this suit pursuant to both the Eleventh Amendment and the Puerto Rico Oversight,…
Date: May 16, 2022
Docket Number: 19-2204
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit vacated Defendant's sentence entered after he pleaded guilty to illegally possessing a machine gun, holding that Defendant's upwardly variant sentence could not stand. After a hearing, the sentencing…
Date: May 16, 2022
Docket Number: 20-2193
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the ruling of the district court denying Appellant's motion for compassionate release pursuant to 18 U.S.C. 3582(c)(1)(A), as amended by the First Step Act (FSA), holding that Appellant was not…
Date: May 13, 2022
Docket Number: 21-1081
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the entry of final judgment entered in favor of Defendant on Plaintiff's wage and employment misclassification claims, holding that the Massachusetts Wage Act, Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 149, 148…
Date: May 13, 2022
Docket Number: 21-1112
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the decision of the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico dismissing without prejudice this collection and foreclosure action that VS PR, a limited liability corporation,…
Date: May 13, 2022
Docket Number: 21-1637
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the order of the district court entering summary judgment in favor of RentGrow, Inc. and dismissing Plaintiff's complaint alleging that RentGrow willfully violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act…
Date: May 12, 2022
Docket Number: 20-1855
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit reversed the judgment of the district court denying Defendants' motion for entry of an automatic stay under 11 U.S.C. 922, incorporated into Title III of the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and…
Date: May 10, 2022
Docket Number: 21-1144
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the order of the district court granting the government's motion to dismiss this lawsuit alleging improper termination and breach of contract for failure to state a claim on the grounds that…
Date: May 6, 2022
Docket Number: 21-1153
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit reversed the bankruptcy court's dismissal of Debtor's motion to enforce an automatic stay as to a subsidiary of the Lac Du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians, holding that the Bankruptcy…
Date: May 5, 2022
Docket Number: 21-1296
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit granted in part a petition for review from Petitioner in which Petitioner challenged the decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) affirming the immigration judge's (IJ) denial of Petitioner's…
Date: May 2, 2022
Docket Number: 21-1355
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed all but a small portion of the sentence and restitution order imposed by the district court in connection with Defendant's guilty plea to charges of falsely impersonating a federal officer and…
Date: April 29, 2022
Docket Number: 20-1981
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit reversed the order of the district court granting summary judgment against Plaintiffs in this medical malpractice suit brought under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA), see 28 U.S.C. 1346(b), 2671-2680,…
Date: April 29, 2022
Docket Number: 21-1009
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court ruling for the government on its complaint seeing to obtain a judgment against Monica Toth for failing to pay an ordered penalty holding that there was no…
Date: April 29, 2022
Docket Number: 21-1037
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit vacated the judgment of the district court entering summary judgment in favor of an airline and dismissing an airline passenger's personal injury complaint, holding that the district court erred in…
Date: April 28, 2022
Docket Number: 19-2095
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part the grant of summary judgment against Blackstone Headwaters Coalition in this citizen suit brought against various defendants involved in the development of a…
Date: April 28, 2022
Docket Number: 20-1937
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the grant of summary judgment against Eulalia Lopez-Ramirez (Lopez) in the medical malpractice suit that she and her daughter brought under Puerto Rico law, holding that Plaintiffs' allegations…
Date: April 27, 2022
Docket Number: 21-1909
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the decision of the district court denying motion for a preliminary injunction sought by Appellants, then-employees of Mass General Brigham, Inc. (MGB), to stop their employer's application of…
Date: April 26, 2022
Docket Number: 21-1129
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant's sentence for maintaining a drug-involved premises, holding that the sentence was not unreasonable. Defendant pleaded guilty to maintaining a drug-involved premises. The trial court…
Date: April 26, 2022
Docket Number: 22-1080
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the court charged with overseeing proceedings under Title III of the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act confirming a plan of adjustment for the debts…
Date: April 25, 2022
Docket Number: 21-1365
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant's conviction of possession with intent to distribute forty grams or more of fentanyl, holding that the district court did not err in denying Defendant's motion to suppress evidence…
Date: April 25, 2022
Docket Numbers: 21-1624, 21-1642
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit vacated the judgment of the district court dismissing this complaint alleging a First Amendment claim and seeking a preliminary injunction, holding that Plaintiffs plausibly alleged a First Amendment…
Date: April 21, 2022
Docket Number: 21-1298
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit vacated Defendant's sentence and remanded the case for resentencing, holding that the district court incorrectly found that Defendant's prior conviction in a Puerto Rico court for attempted aggravated…
Date: April 19, 2022
Docket Number: 20-1160
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court denying Petitioner's petition for a writ of habeas corpus filed pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 2254 alleging that the prosecution violated Batson v. Kentucky, 476…
Date: April 19, 2022
Docket Number: 21-1335
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit granted a petition for review sought by Petitioner from the denial of Petitioner's application for cancellation of removal and request for voluntary departure, holding that the Board of Immigration…
Date: April 14, 2022
Docket Number: 20-1612
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant's sentence of forty-one months' imprisonment imposed in connection with his plea of guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm, holding that there was no error or abuse of…
Date: April 12, 2022
Docket Number: 19-1924
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court sentencing Defendant to 135 months' imprisonment in connection with his pleas of guilty to crimes arising from his sexually-explicit virtual contact with an…
Date: April 11, 2022
Docket Numbers: 19-1990, 21-1184
Justia Opinion Summary: In this action brought for the nonpayment of a promissory note the First Circuit affirmed the rulings of the district court entering summary judgment against SBK Holdings USA, Inc. and denying SBK's motion to set aside…
Date: April 11, 2022
Docket Number: 20-1903
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit vacated Defendant's conviction of knowingly violating 18 U.S.C. 922(g), which prohibits nine categories of persons from possessing a firearm, holding that the trial court erred when it allowed the…
Date: April 4, 2022
Docket Numbers: 19-2201, 20-2172
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit reversed the judgment of the district court entering summary judgment against a group of jockeys who demanded higher wages and refused to rice and vacated the orders permanently enjoining the work…
Date: March 31, 2022
Docket Number: 20-1838
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant's sentences imposed in connection with his plea of guilty to two carjacking counts and one firearm possession count, holding that Defendant's arguments on appeal were without…
Date: March 29, 2022
Docket Number: 20-1986
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court granting summary judgment to IKO Industries, Inc. (IKO) on the Massachusetts state law contractual and consumer protection claims that Armand Bessette…
Date: March 29, 2022
Docket Number: 21-1331
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit vacated the order of the district court dismissing this action, holding that the court erred in characterizing the forum selection clause in this case as mandatory. Plaintiff Zuleyka Rivera, a former…
Date: March 29, 2022
Docket Number: 21-1589
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit reversed the order of the district court issued under the stay-put provision of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), 20 U.S.C. 1415(j), ordering Portland Public Schools to pay for…
Date: March 28, 2022
Docket Number: 19-1367
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment and order of the district court granting summary judgment for Lender and denying Borrowers' motion for reconsideration in this lawsuit brought by Lender seeking repayment and…
Date: March 28, 2022
Docket Number: 21-1442
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court granting summary judgment in favor of Defendants and dismissing this lawsuit alleging various Massachusetts law claims based on a purported manufacturing…
Date: March 25, 2022
Docket Number: 20-1346
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant's conviction of one count of possession with intent to distribute cocaine and one count of importation of cocaine and his sentence of a term of imprisonment of 120 months to be…
Date: March 25, 2022
Docket Number: 21-1177
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the ruling of the district court denying Plaintiffs' motion for a preliminary injunction in this case arising from a decision by the Speaker of the New Hampshire House of Representatives to…
Date: March 25, 2022
Docket Number: 21-1201
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court granting motions to dismiss filed by defendants Charles Taylor Consulting Mexico, S.A. de C.V., James Heiden, and Pierre Barron (collectively, Charles Taylor)…
Date: March 24, 2022
Docket Numbers: 20-2054, 20-2112
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit vacated the order of the district court denying in part Plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment and granting in part Defendants' motion for summary judgment, holding that the case must be dismissed for…
Date: March 24, 2022
Docket Number: 21-1463
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court granting summary judgment in favor of Defendants, the Town of Marblehead and its buildings commissioner, and dismissing this lawsuit brought under the…
Date: March 22, 2022
Docket Number: 19-1652
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court convicting Defendant, pursuant to a jury verdict, of conspiracy to commit a robbery, committing the robbery, and discharging a firearm in relation to a crime…
Date: March 21, 2022
Docket Number: 20-1029
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit vacated Defendant's sentence imposed in connection with his plea of guilty to illegally possessing a machine gun and remanded the case for resentencing, holding that the judge's sentence "explanation"…
Date: March 16, 2022
Docket Number: 19-2209
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court granting the separate post-verdict motions for judgment of acquittal filed by the two defendants in this case, Eddie Guerrero-Narvaez and Kayvan…
Date: March 16, 2022
Docket Number: 20-1972
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the order of the district court granting summary judgment in favor of Defendant, his former employer, and dismissing Plaintiff's complaint alleging that Defendant terminated his employment…
Date: March 10, 2022
Docket Number: 21-1146
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court dismissing Plaintiff's defamation complaint, holding that the district court properly dismissed the complaint. Plaintiff brought this action against…
Date: March 8, 2022
Docket Number: 20-1724
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the order of the district court entering summary judgment in favor of Defendant and dismissing Plaintiff's claims for fraud, civil conspiracy, breach of fiduciary duty, and unjust enrichment,…
Date: March 3, 2022
Docket Number: 19-1325
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Appellant's plea of guilty to one count of investment adviser fraud, four counts of wire fraud, and one count of aggravated identity theft, holding that there was no prejudicial error in the…
Date: March 1, 2022
Docket Number: 20-2100
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 its application of the Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA), 18 U.S.C. 924(e)(1)…
Date: February 28, 2022
Docket Number: 20-1593
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), holding that the immigration judge (IJ) and BIA properly concluded that Petitioner's…
Date: February 28, 2022
Docket Numbers: 20-1787, 20-1794
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit dismissed Defendants' appeals from the trial court's refusal to dismiss their indictments, holding that this Court lacked jurisdiction to review before final judgment the district court's order denying…
Date: February 28, 2022
Docket Number: 20-1836
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit reversed the order of the district court ordering the release of sealed archival records of certain grand jury proceedings and its judgment in favor of historian and Petitioner Jill Lepore, holding that…
Date: February 28, 2022
Docket Number: 21-1095
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part the district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of Defendant on Plaintiff's federal and Massachusetts state law employment discrimination claims, holding…
Date: February 25, 2022
Docket Number: 20-1747
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court granting summary judgment ruling in favor of Defendant, a marketing company, holding that district court correctly concluded that Plaintiffs, who worked as…
Date: February 25, 2022
Docket Number: 20-2030
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit vacated the order of the district court dismissing Plaintiffs' action seeking damages for medical malpractice, holding that the district court abused its discretion by failing to apply the requisite…
Date: February 24, 2022
Docket Number: 20-2093
Justia Opinion Summary: In this medical malpractice action the First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court entering judgment in accordance with the jury's verdict finding Doctors' Center Hospital (Manati), Inc. (Doctors' Center)…
Date: February 24, 2022
Docket Number: 21-1045
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit granted in part one of Petitioner's petitions for review of the decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) ordering Petitioner removed, holding that remand was required. The same day the denial…
Date: February 22, 2022
Docket Number: 17-6001
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit dismissed as moot Gary Lee Sampson's appeal from his death sentence for murder and declined to exercise its equitable discretion to vacate the death sentence, holding that Sampson's convictions, life…
Date: February 22, 2022
Docket Number: 19-1815
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit vacated Defendant's sentence of ninety months of imprisonment and three years of supervised release for his conviction for one count of possession of a firearm by a prohibited person in violation of 18…
Date: February 22, 2022
Docket Number: 20-1792
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court rejecting the jury's advisory verdict in this case, holding that Plaintiff was not entitled to relief on his claims of error. Plaintiff, a former…
Date: February 22, 2022
Docket Number: 20-2114
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the decision of the district court granting judgment to Defendants and denying a declaration requested by Plaintiffs that the Massachusetts Bureau of Special Education Appeals (BSEA) erred in…
Date: February 22, 2022
Docket Number: 21-1057
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the ruling of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) denying Petitioner's application for asylum, withholding of removal, protection under the Convention Against Torture (CAT), and voluntary…
Date: February 18, 2022
Docket Number: 19-1044
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit dismissed Petitioner's petition for review of a final administrative removal order (FARO) issued against her in 2018 by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), holding that this Court lacked…
Date: February 18, 2022
Docket Number: 21-1165
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant's convictions for certain drug-trafficking offenses, holding that Defendant was not entitled to relief on any of its allegations of error. After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted…
Date: February 18, 2022
Docket Number: 21-1281
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the decision of the district court granting summary judgment in favor of the Town of Brookline, Massachusetts on Plaintiff's claim brought pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 1983 alleging discrimination on…
Date: February 17, 2022
Docket Number: 20-1984
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court concluding that this dispute concerning the disposition of assets once held by the uncle of the parties in this case belonged in a state court, not in a…
Date: February 17, 2022
Docket Number: 20-2024
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant's conviction for being a felon in possession of a firearm, holding that the district court did not err in denying Defendant's motion to suppress. Upon executing a no-knock search…
Date: February 17, 2022
Docket Number: 21-1618
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court denying a motion to intervene filed by LBRY Foundation Inc. (Foundation) in a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) civil enforcement action against LBRY,…
Date: February 16, 2022
Docket Number: 20-1214
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court vacated the forty-six-month sentence Defendant received after pleading guilty to various firearm offenses, holding that the district court erred in finding that Defendant was an unlawful drug user at…
Date: February 16, 2022
Docket Number: 20-1959
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court convicting Defendant for conspiracy to commit an offense against the United States and other offenses and resentencing him to a 300-month sentence, holding…
Date: February 16, 2022
Docket Number: 20-2175
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit denied in part Petitioner's petition for judicial review and remanded this immigration case to the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) for further consideration, holding that remand was required for…
Date: February 16, 2022
Docket Number: 21-1064
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit held that a district court, when adjudicating a prisoner-initiated motion for compassionate release, is not bound by the Sentencing Commission's current policy statement and may consider the First Step…
Date: February 10, 2022
Docket Number: 20-2064
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit vacated and reversed the judgment of the district court holding that two laws passed by Maine's Legislature in 2019 that amended the Maine Fair Credit Reporting Act, Me. Rev. Stat. Ann. tit. 10, 1306 et…
Date: February 9, 2022
Docket Numbers: 14-1328, 14-9003, 14-1350, 14-9002
Date: February 9, 2022
Docket Number: 21-1069
Justia Opinion Summary: In this appeal arising from the post-settlement process of apportioning a $300 million recovery between a class and its lawyers the First Circuit affirmed the district court's Fed. R. Crim. P. 11(b) sanction of Leiff…
Date: February 8, 2022
Docket Number: 17-1867
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit granted in part and denied in part Appellant's petition for review of the judgment of the board of immigration appeals (BIA) finding that Appellant was ineligible for asylum and denying her application…
Date: February 8, 2022
Docket Number: 20-2144
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit denied a petition for review of a decision by the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) that affirmed the denial of Appellant's application for adjustment of status on statutory and federal constitutional…
Date: February 2, 2022
Docket Number: 19-1941
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court sentencing Defendant, holding that the sentence was neither procedurally nor substantively unreasonable. Defendant Jose Mulero-Vargas and and Luis…
Date: January 31, 2022
Docket Number: 20-1639
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the decision of the district court granting Defendant's motion to dismiss as to count one of Plaintiffs' complaint and reversed the dismissal and remanded for further proceedings on counts two…
Date: January 31, 2022
Docket Number: 21-1566
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit reversed the judgment of the district court finding that Electric Boat Corp. had failed to satisfy the requirements of 28 U.S.C. 1442(a)(1) for federal officer removal, holding that Electric Boat…
Date: January 28, 2022
Docket Number: 21-1460
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit reversed the judgment of the district court in this dispute between the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 103 (the Union) and Johnson Controls Security Solutions, LLC over Johnson…
Date: January 27, 2022
Docket Number: 18-1747
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant's twelve-month prison sentence that was imposed after he committed and admitted to multiple supervised release violations, holding the sentence was neither procedurally nor…
Date: January 27, 2022
Docket Number: 19-1243
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court ordering compliance with an administrative subpoena issued to Appellant by the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) pursuant to 21 U.S.C. 876,…
Date: January 26, 2022
Docket Numbers: 19-2292, 20-1054, 20-1034
Justia Opinion Summary: In this interlocutory appeal, the First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court denying Defendants' claims that their prosecutions ran afoul of the prohibition in a congressional appropriations rider against…
Date: January 26, 2022
Docket Numbers: 21-1873, 21-1874
Date: January 25, 2022
Docket Number: 19-2033
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant's conviction, entered following his guilty plea, for aiding and abetting the possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime and aiding and abetting the possession…
Date: January 21, 2022
Docket Numbers: 19-1522, 20-1083
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendants' convictions for conspiring to distribute twenty-eight grams or more of cocaine base, holding that neither Defendant was entitled to relief on his claims of error. Defendants Juan…
Date: January 21, 2022
Docket Number: 20-1066
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court dismissing a relator's qui tam action brought under the False Claims Act (FCA), 31 U.S.C. 3729 through 3733, holding that the district court did not err in…
Date: January 20, 2022
Docket Number: 19-1953
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant's convictions on six counts covering a range of federal crimes that stemmed from Defendant's use of a social security number assigned to another person, holding that there was no…
Date: January 19, 2022
Docket Number: 19-1719
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the decision of the district court granting summary judgment for Defendants in this personal injury action, holding that the district court properly granted summary judgment as to all…
Date: January 19, 2022
Docket Number: 19-2013
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant's conviction of one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. 846, and one count of possession…
Date: January 18, 2022
Docket Number: 19-1639
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed Defendant's conviction for interfering with commerce by threats or violence, in violation of 18 U.S.C. 1951 and 2 (Hobbs Act robbery); and using, carrying, or possessing a firearm during and in…
Date: January 18, 2022
Docket Number: 20-1607
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit vacated the decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals affirming Petitioner's order of removal and denying his requests for cancellation of removal and voluntary departure, holding that a conviction…
Date: January 18, 2022
Docket Number: 21-1226
Justia Opinion Summary: Motus and CarData both provide tools for managing businesses' reimbursement of employee expenses. Motus is a Delaware limited liability company with its principal place of business in Boston.. CarData is a Toronto-based…
Date: January 13, 2022
Docket Numbers: 19-2010, 19-2017
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part the judgment of the district court convicting Defendants, two brothers, of gun and drug crimes and sentencing them to 111 months' imprisonment, holding that there…
Date: January 13, 2022
Docket Number: 20-1997
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the decision of the district court denying Day & Zimmerman's (D&Z) motion to dismiss this lawsuit for lack of personal jurisdiction, holding that there was no error. Plaintiff filed suit in…
Date: January 12, 2022
Docket Number: 19-1165
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit granted in part Petitioner's petition appealing the board of Immigration Appeals' (BIA) denial of Petitioner's application for withholding of removal under Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) section…
Date: January 12, 2022
Docket Number: 20-1925
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit summarily affirmed the order of the district court imposing an aggregate sentence of 210 months, to be followed by a six-year term of supervised release, in connection with Defendant's guilty plea to…
Date: January 12, 2022
Docket Number: 21-1034
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court denying Defendant's motion for compassionate release under 18 U.S.C. 3582(c)(1)(A), as amended by the First Step Act (FSA), holding that the district court…
Date: January 11, 2022
Docket Number: 20-1587
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit denied in part and dismissed in part Petitioner's petition for review of a final order of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) affirming the decision of an immigration judge (IJ) finding Petitioner…
Date: January 11, 2022
Docket Number: 20-2082
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court dismissing Appellants' action for declaratory relief against the Governor of Rhode Island and various Rhode Island officials and agencies (collectively, Rhode…
Date: January 11, 2022
Docket Number: 21-1145
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit posed a question of Massachusetts state law to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) in this negligence and failure to warn case, holding that this case met the both the SJC's and this Court's…
Date: January 10, 2022
Docket Number: 19-1343
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court denying Defendant's petition for habeas relief, holding that the district court did not err in its treatment of Defendant's claim for habeas relief based on…
Date: January 10, 2022
Docket Number: 19-1620
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit granted Petitioner's petition for review of a decision by the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) affirming the denial of Petitioner's claims for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the…
Date: January 7, 2022
Docket Number: 20-2083
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed all but two of the district court's rulings in this dispute over the amount of attorneys' fees due to Plaintiff, the prevailing party in the underlying employment discrimination dispute, and…
Date: January 7, 2022
Docket Number: 21-1522
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court granting Father's petition seeking the return of seven-year-old Child from Massachusetts to Brazil, holding that the district court did not err or abuse its…
Date: January 4, 2022
Docket Number: 20-2142
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit held that a Maine statute requiring cable operators to grant subscribers pro rata credits or rebates for the days remaining in the billing period after the termination of cable service is not preempted…
Date: January 4, 2022
Docket Number: 21-1188
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed in part and vacated in part the holdings of the district court affirming the conclusions of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) approving the Maine Department of Transportation's (MDOT)…
Date: January 3, 2022
Docket Number: 21-1140
Justia Opinion Summary: The First Circuit affirmed the decision of the district court upholding Defendant National Union Fire Insurance Company of Pittsburg, PA's denial of accidental death insurance benefits to Plaintiff following her…
