Every decision we've summarized from United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.
The First Circuit affirmed a district court's denial of a permanent injunction and its award of attorney fees in a Title VII retaliation case. The court held that Puerto Rico statutes delaying the payment of federal judgments violate the Supremacy Clause by indefinitely staying execution.
The First Circuit affirmed the denial of a Chapter 7 bankruptcy discharge for the Savages because they failed to satisfactorily explain the disposition of assets received from their company prior to filing. The court rejected the argument that only substantial asset losses or those sufficient to pay all liabilities require explanation under the Bankruptcy Code.
The First Circuit denied a petition for review of an asylum claim because the petitioner failed to prove she suffered past persecution or had a well-founded fear of future persecution. The court affirmed the Immigration Judge and Board of Immigration Appeals' determination that the petitioner's experiences did not meet the statutory severity threshold required for asylum, withholding of removal, or Convention Against Torture protection.
The First Circuit affirmed a 144-month sentence for a defendant convicted of possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime and marijuana distribution. The court held that the district court properly weighed sentencing factors without needing to explicitly address every mitigating fact or explain why recommended sentences were rejected.
The First Circuit affirmed the District Court's denial of Anthony Shea's request to vacate his federal firearms convictions, ruling that instructional errors regarding predicate crimes were harmless. The court also upheld the resentencing of Shea based on the erroneous application of the career offender guideline, which the government conceded no longer applied.
The First Circuit affirmed a criminal contempt order against a witness who refused to testify despite receiving statutory immunity. The court held that the Fifth Amendment privilege does not protect a witness from being compelled to testify truthfully, even if they fear prosecution for perjury based on the content of their testimony.
The First Circuit affirmed Chang Goo Yoon's conviction for health care fraud, rejecting his challenges to evidentiary rulings regarding prior insurance investigations and sentencing enhancements. The court held that evidence of Yoon's knowledge of past investigations was probative of his specific intent and that the district court properly calculated intended loss and applied sentencing enhancements.
The First Circuit affirmed a district court's ruling in a civil securities enforcement action against five defendants who participated in a decade-long pump-and-dump scheme. The court upheld the defendants' liability and disgorgement orders while vacating one specific injunction against defendant Paul Sexton for being overly vague.
The First Circuit affirmed a district court's judgment against five defendants who participated in a decade-long pump-and-dump scheme involving cheap stocks and misleading hype. The court upheld the SEC's civil enforcement action, finding the defendants liable for disgorging millions in ill-gotten gains while concealing their ownership and involvement.
The First Circuit affirmed a district court's judgment against five defendants who participated in a decade-long pump-and-dump scheme involving penny stocks and concealed ownership. The court upheld the defendants' liability for securities fraud and the disgorgement of ill-gotten gains, while vacating one specific injunction against appellant Sexton for failing to provide adequate notice of the prohibited conduct.