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

The First Circuit affirmed the district court's grant of summary judgment for Defendant's and dismissing Plaintiffs' claim that the City of Fitchburg's refusal to exempt four sober houses Plaintiffs operated for recovering addicts from a legal requirement to install sprinklers in the sober houses violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Fair Housing Act, holding that the district court did not err in concluding that the requested accommodation was not reasonable.Plaintiffs brought this suit under the ADA, 42 U.S.C. 12101-12213, and the Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. 3601-3631, as amended by the Fair Housing Amendments Act (FHAA). The district court dismissed the suit on summary judgment, concluding that Plaintiffs failed to show that an exemption from the sprinkler requirement was either reasonable or necessary to allow recovering addicts to live in and benefit from the sober houses. The First Circuit affirmed, holding that the district court did not err in entering summary judgment on Plaintiffs' ADA and FHAA reasonable accommodation claims. View "Summers v. City of Fitchburg" on Justia Law

The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court convicting and sentencing Defendant of a variety of offenses, including conspiring to possess heroin with intent to distribute and possessing and distributing heroin, holding that nothing in the proceedings below rose to the level of reversible error.On appeal, Defendant argued, among other things, that the judge erred by denying a motion for a mistrial based on the judge's allowing a government witness to retake the stand and recant some trial testimony and a second motion for a mistrial based on his codefendant supposedly offering a defense that was prejudicially antagonistic to his own. The First Circuit affirmed, holding (1) the denial of Defendant's mistrial motions survived abuse-of-discretion scrutiny; and (2) contrary to Defendant's argument on appeal, the sentence was neither implausible or indefensible. View "United States v. Chisholm" on Justia Law

The First Circuit affirmed the decision of the district court granting Defendants' motion to dismiss Plaintiff's complaint seeking to invalidate a Maine statute that governs collective bargaining between the state's university system and its faculty on the ground that the statute violates the First Amendment, holding that the statute is not unconstitutional.Plaintiff, an economics professor at the University of Maine at Machias, brought this action challenging the University of Maine System Labor Relations Act, Me. Stat. tit. 26. 1021-1037. The district court dismissed Plaintiff's suit under Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6). The First Circuit affirmed, holding (1) section 1025(2)(E) is not properly read to designate the Associated Faculties of the Universities of Maine as Plaintiff's personal representative, as he argued; and (2) the Supreme Court's decision in Minnesota State Board for Community Colleges v. Knight, 465 U.S. 271 (1984), which the Court cited favorably in response to a similar challenge in D'Agostino v. Baker, 812 F.3d 240, disposes of Plaintiff's contention that the distinction between having a union represent a bargaining unit as an entity in collective bargaining and having it represent the employees within the unit individually is immaterial. View "Reisman v. Associated Faculties of the University of Maine" on Justia Law

The First Circuit affirmed Defendant's conviction for one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm and sentence of fifteen years' imprisonment, holding that the district court did not commit plain error convicting Defendant and properly sentenced him under the Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA), 18 U.S.C. 924(e)(2)(A)(ii).On appeal, Defendant argued that the district court committed plain error because the government did not charge him with, and he did not plead guilty to, knowing the facts that made him a person prohibited from possessing a firearm. The First Circuit affirmed, holding (1) Defendant failed to demonstrate that it was reasonably probable that he would not have pled guilty had the district court informed him that the government was required to prove that he knew when he possessed the gun that he had previously been convicted of an offense by more than one year in prison; and (2) selling a controlled substance under New Hampshire law, N.H. Rev. Stat. 318-B:2(I), is a "serious drug offense" as defined under the ACCA and therefore can be a predicate act for purposes of triggering the ACCA's mandatory minimum sentence. View "United States v. Burghardt" on Justia Law

The First Circuit affirmed the district court's entry of summary judgment in favor of Defendant in this defamation case, holding that no reasonable jury could find that Defendant, a psychiatrist, abused the conditional privilege under which Defendant disseminated an allegedly libelous report to an employer about an employee's fitness to return to work after medical leave.Plaintiff took medical leave from work due to stress purportedly caused by derogatory remarks about Plaintiff's age. The Human Resources department required Plaintiff to undergo a psychiatric evaluation to determine his fitness to return to work. Defendant issued a written report concluding that Plaintiff would be unfit to return to work for at least three months. Plaintiff filed this complaint arguing that the report contained at least two libelous statements. The district court entered summary judgment in favor of Defendant, concluding that the challenged statements were conditionally privileged and that there was insufficient evidence to show that Defendant abused the conditional privilege. The First Circuit affirmed, holding that the district court properly found Defendant's statements in the report conditionally privileged and that Plaintiff failed to establish sufficient evidence to show any abuse of that privilege. View "Zeigler v. Rater" on Justia Law

The First Circuit denied in part and dismissed in part Petitioner's petition for review from a ruling by the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) rejecting his request for deferral of removal pursuant to the Convention Against Torture (CAT), holding that this Court lacked jurisdiction to review the BIA's acceptance of the immigration judge's (IJ) adverse credibility finding and that Petitioner's remaining challenges were without merit.Before the First Circuit, Petitioner, among other things, challenged the standard of review that the BIA used to review the IJ's ruling. The First Circuit denied relief, holding (1) there was no evidence that the BIA used the incorrect standard of review to review the IJ's ruling; (2) because Petitioner had not contested the IJ's adverse credibility finding before the BIA, this Court lacked jurisdiction to review the BIA's acceptance of that finding; and (3) Petitioner failed to show that the record compelled a finding other than the one the IJ reached that Petitioner failed to show he was more likely than not to be tortured if he were removed to Guatemala. View "Samayoa Cabrera v. Barr" on Justia Law

The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court convicting Defendant of two counts of making false statements and one count of theft of government property, holding that sufficient evidence supported Defendant's convictions and that the district court did not abuse its discretion in its evidentiary rulings or in its response to the jury's request for a transcript.On appeal, Defendant argued that the trial court (1) erred in denying his motion for a judgment of acquittal, (2) abused its discretion in admitting into evidence photographs taken from a Facebook page under the name of Defendant's ex-wife, and (3) abused its discretion by declining to provide the jury with the transcript of certain witness testimony and did not inform the jury that it could request a readback of the testimony. The First Circuit affirmed, holding (1) Defendant's convictions were supported by sufficient evidence; (2) the Facebook photos were properly admitted despite an authentication objection; and (3) the district court did not err in its response to the jury's request for a transcript. View "United States v. Vazquez-Soto" on Justia Law

The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the Title III court refusing to lift the automatic stay in PROMESA to allow the Municipality of Ponce to secure specific performance by the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico of public works projects required under a Puerto Rico Commonwealth court judgment, holding that the Title III court did not plainly abuse its discretion.In 2017, the Commonwealth filed a petition for debt adjustment relief under Title III of the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act (PROMESA), 48 U.S.C. 2101-2241. In 2018, Ponce moved for relief from the automatic stay to secure specific performance by the Commonwealth of public works projects required under a Puerto Rico Commonwealth court judgment. The Title III court refused to lift the automatic stay. The First Circuit affirmed, holding that where Ponce essentially sought priority over the claims of other communities and creditors of the Commonwealth, the Title III court clearly did not abuse its discretion in declining to give Ponce this priority. View "Autonomous Municipality of Ponce v. Commonwealth of Puerto Rico" on Justia Law

In this PROMESA action the First Circuit affirmed in part and vacated in part the decision of the the lower court denying Plaintiffs' petition for relief from an automatic stay of collection actions against the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico to allow them to bring an enforcement action against the Commonwealth, holding that remand was required to determine whether the contested funds were Plaintiffs'.Plaintiffs, motor vehicle owners and operators who paid duplicate premiums to the Commonwealth in accordance with the Commonwealth's compulsory automobile-insurance law, entered into a settlement agreement pursuant to which the Commonwealth agreed to establish a notice and claim-resolution process for the motorists. Thereafter, the Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico initiated Title III debt-adjustment proceedings on behalf of the Commonwealth pursuant to the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act (PROMESA), triggering an automatic stay of collection actions against the Commonwealth. The Commonwealth subsequently halted its implementation of the settlement agreement's notice and claim resolution process. Plaintiffs unsuccessfully petitioned the Title III court for relief from the automatic stay. The First Circuit remanded the case, holding that the Title III court abused its discretion by not first addressing Plaintiffs' claim that the contested funds were their personal property and were merely being held in trust by the Commonwealth. View "Gracia-Gracia v. Commonwealth of Puerto Rico" on Justia Law

The First Circuit affirmed the Defendant's sentence imposed in connection with his guilty plea to being a felon in possession of firearms and ammunition, holding that Defendant was not entitled to relief on his allegations of error.The sentencing calculations and recommendations in Defendant's plea agreement were not binding on the district court. Defendant was advised as much at his change of plea hearing. On appeal, Defendant argued that his guilty plea was unknowing and involuntary because the district court did not inform him of the possibility of a stolen firearm enhancement and that the district court incorrectly calculated his criminal history category. The First Circuit affirmed, holding (1) there was no error in the district court's acceptance of the plea or in the district court's application of the stolen firearm enhancement; and (2) any error in the district court's calculation of Defendant's criminal history category was harmless. View "United States v. Cortes-Maldonado" on Justia Law