1st Cir.

First Circuit Upholds Gun Ban for Undocumented Immigrants

A First Circuit panel held that the federal ban on firearm possession by undocumented immigrants is consistent with the nation’s historical tradition of regulating arms, reversing a district court’s dismissal of a charge against an undocumented immigrant.

Smart-Meter Opt-Out Fee Case Fails at First Circuit for Lack of Specific Causation Evidence

A Maine man with an incurable blood cancer sued his utility for refusing to waive the monthly charge to keep an analog meter, but his case failed when his treating physicians were excluded as untimely expert witnesses, leaving the record without specific-ca...

First Circuit Rejects Categorical Bar on Political Opinion Claims Based on Gang Opposition

First Circuit Revives Trade Secrets Claims Against Former Employee's Wife, Affirms Dismissal of Out-of-State Defendants

The First Circuit reversed the dismissal of claims against Debra Monday, finding the district court wrongly dismissed her on personal jurisdiction grounds, while affirming the dismissal of claims against New York-based defendants H.U.R.B. Landscaping and it...

First Circuit Reverses BIA Denial of Adjustment of Status for Impermissible Factfinding

The First Circuit reversed the Board of Immigration Appeals’ denial of adjustment of status for a Venezuelan national, holding that the agency engaged in impermissible de novo factfinding rather than reviewing the Immigration Judge’s credibility determinati...

First Circuit Vacates Puerto Rico Officer's Excessive Force Conviction Over Hearsay

The First Circuit vacated the excessive force conviction of Puerto Rico police officer José Cartagena, holding that the government violated his Confrontation Clause rights by introducing a teenage victim's hearsay statements without allowing cross-examination.