Justia U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals Opinion Summaries

The First Circuit dismissed this appeal arising in connection with a lawsuit alleging that the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) is now part of the United States Constitution, holding that none of the plaintiffs met their burden at the pleading stage with respect to federal constitutional requirements.Plaintiffs were Equal Means Equal, a national nonprofit organization, The Yellow Roses, a student organization based in Massachusetts, and Katherine Weitbrecht, a resident of Massachusetts. Plaintiffs brought this action against David Ferriero, in his official capacity as Archivist of the United States, alleging that, after Virginia ratified the ERA in 2020, the Archivist violated 1 U.S.C. 106b when he refused to publish it and certify its adoption. The district court dismissed the claims for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. The First Circuit affirmed, holding that Plaintiffs failed to plead sufficient facts to establish standing under Article III of the United States Constitution to bring this action in federal court. View "Equal Means Equal v. Ferriero" on Justia Law

The First Circuit affirmed Defendant's conviction of possession with intent to distribute cocaine, fentanyl, and methamphetamines, holding that Defendant's challenges on appeal were unavailing.During a probation compliance check in Defendant's apartment state probation officers discovered a black case containing illegal narcotics. The police then obtained and executed a warrant to search Defendant's apartment and his two cellphones for evidence of drug dealing. On appeal, Defendant argued, among other things, that there was no probable cause to search his cellphones and that the warrant did not adequately specify which files on the phones would be searched. The First Circuit affirmed, holding (1) the trial court did not err in denying Defendant's motion to suppress evidence recovered from the cellphones; (2) there was sufficient evidence to support the convictions; and (3) Defendant was not entitled to relief on his remaining allegations of error. View "United States v. Lindsey" on Justia Law

The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court concluding that no refund was due to Plaintiff after Defendant, Plaintiff's study abroad provider, cancelled the abroad portion of her program in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, holding that the district court did not err in dismissing Plaintiff's complaint for breach of contract for failure to state a claim.Plaintiff was studying abroad in the Netherlands when the pandemic hit. In response to the pandemic, Defendant cancelled the abroad portion of Plaintiff's program and made arrangements for Plaintiff to complete her coursework online. Plaintiff brought this action for breach of contract because Defendant refused to provide a refund in lieu of experiences, excursions, activities, and services she would have otherwise enjoyed had the pandemic not occurred. The district court entered judgment for Defendant, concluding that no refund was due when the cancellation of a program occurred after it started. The First Circuit affirmed, holding that the contract between the parties unambiguously did not require Defendant to provide Plaintiff with a refund when her program was cancelled following the start date. View "Zhao v. CIEE, Inc." on Justia Law

The First Circuit denied one of Petitioner's petitions for review of two decisions by the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) but granted the other petition, holding that the government failed to prove that the BIA, in overturning an immigration judge's (IJ) ruling granting Petitioner adjustment of status, considered hardship as it was required to do.The two decisions at issue were: (1) the BIA's 2011 ruling affirming the denial of Petitioner's application for asylum, withholding or removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture (CAT); and (2) the BIA's 2017 ruling reversing the grant of Petitioner's application for adjustment of status. The First Circuit denied Petitioner's 2011 petition and granted his 2017 petition, holding (1) there was no merit to any of Petitioner's challenges to the BIA's affirmance of the IJ's denial of his asylum, withholding of removal, and CAT claims; and (2) the BIA erred in denying Petitioner's application for adjustment of status because it ignored altogether a particularly salient aspect of the hardship showing that Petitioner was trying to make. View "Perez-Trujillo v. Garland" on Justia Law

The First Circuit affirmed Defendant's conviction and sentence for one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and eight counts of aiding or assisting in the filing of a false tax return, holding that Defendant's challenges on appeal were meritless.Specifically, the First Circuit held (1) the evidence was sufficient to support the convictions; (2) there was no error in the district court's imposition by reference of the conditions of supervised release stated in the United States Probation Office's Presentence Report; and (3) the district court did not err by failing to impose a specific schedule for payment of restitution at the time of sentencing. View "United States v. Nardozzi" on Justia Law

The First Circuit affirmed Defendant's conviction of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime and possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute entered after Defendant pled guilty pursuant to a plea agreement, holding that Defendant's argument that his plea was invalid was without merit.On appeal, Defendant argued that his plea was invalid because he entered it without knowing that he was waiving his right to appeal the trial court's denial of his motion to suppress the drugs, gun, and statements he had made following his arrest. The First Circuit affirmed, holding that, even if there was error, it was not clear or obvious. View "United States v. Casiano-Santana" on Justia Law

The First Circuit affirmed Defendant's conviction of four counts of wire fraud and one count of obstruction of justice and his 156-month incarcerate sentence, holding that Defendant was fairly tried before a competent judge and an impartial jury, was justly convicted, and was lawfully sentenced.On appeal, Defendant raised two assertions of trial error and several claims of sentencing error. The First Circuit affirmed the convictions and sentence, holding (1) an implication of judicial bias was unwarranted; (2) any impropriety on the part of the prosecutor did not affect or influence the jury in any way; and (3) Defendant was not entitled to relief on his multiple claims of sentencing error. View "United States v. Kuljko" on Justia Law

The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court concluding that the board game "The Game of Life" qualified as a "work for hire" under the Copyright Act of 1909.This case stemmed from a dispute between Rueben Klamer, a toy developer who came up with the initial concept of the game before it was introduced in 1960 by the Milton Bradley Company, and Bill Markham, a game designer that Klamer recruited to design and create the actual game prototype. Markham's successors-in-interest sued Klamer and other defendants seeking a declaration that they possessed "termination rights" under the 1976 Copyright Act. Termination rights, however, do not extend to "work[s] made for hire." The district court concluded that the game was a work for hire, and therefore, Markham's successors-in-interest lacked termination rights. The First Circuit affirmed, holding that the game was a work for hire and that no termination rights existed. View "Markham Concepts, Inc. v. Hasbro, Inc." on Justia Law

The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court granting Defendant's motion for judgment on the pleadings holding that this case came within the jurisdictional reach of the Labor Management Relations Act, 29 U.S.C. 185(a), and that the district court did not err either in denying Plaintiff's motion to remand or in granting judgment for the pleadings for Defendant.Plaintiff, an employee of Defendant, brought this action in a Massachusetts state court asserting violations of the Commonwealth's labor laws. Plaintiff sought recovery of compensation for unpaid wages and expenses, unpaid overtime, and damages for Defendant's alleged failure to account for her travel time and to maintain required payroll records. Defendant removed the suit to federal district court. Plaintiff moved to remand the case, arguing that her claims arose exclusively under state law. The district court denied the remand motion and subsequently granted Defendant's motion for judgment on the pleadings. The First Circuit affirmed, holding that there was no error in the proceedings below. View "Rose v. RTN Federal Credit Union" on Justia Law

The First Circuit rejected the efforts of the two defendants in this consolidated appeal to retroactively vacate the forfeiture judgment against them, holding that neither defendant was entitled to relief on their claims of error.The defendants in this case were Donna Saccoccia and her brother, Vincent Hurley. Defendants were convicted for their role in a money laundering conspiracy controlled by Donna's husband, Stephen Saccoccia. In this appeal, Defendants appealed the district court's denial of Donna's petition for a writ of error coram nobis - a petition that Hurley sought to adopt - seeking vacate of a forfeiture judgment of approximately $136 million in proceeds from the conspiracy, arguing that the Supreme Court's decision in Honeycutt v. United States, 137 S. Ct. 1626 (2017), should be applied retroactively to invalidate the forfeiture judgments against them. The First Circuit denied relief, holding (1) Donna's efforts to apply Honeycutt retroactively were unavailing for the same grounds applicable to Stephen, whose same attempt this Court recently rejected; and (2) Hurley waived his argument on appeal. View "United States v. Saccoccia" on Justia Law