Every decision we've summarized from United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.
The First Circuit vacated a federal sentence for a prohibited person in possession of a firearm, ruling that prior state drug convictions did not qualify as controlled substance offenses under federal sentencing guidelines. The court remanded the case for resentencing because the district court erred in calculating the defendant's base offense level.
The First Circuit affirmed the defendant's federal convictions but found error in applying a career offender sentencing enhancement. The court held that the enhancement was inapplicable because the prior state conviction did not involve a substance controlled under federal law at the time of federal sentencing.
The First Circuit granted a motion to stay a district court order that had halted a federal directive regarding interpretive materials at national parks. The appellate court found the Department of the Interior likely to succeed on appeal because the lower court erred in finding irreparable harm to the plaintiffs.
The United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit affirmed the denial of a permanent injunction regarding most provisions of the Maine Human Rights Act while reversing the denial as applied to the Religious Expression Rule. The court held that the state's employment and nondiscrimination rules do not violate the First Amendment, but the rule requiring religious expression to be nondiscriminatory unconstitutionally burdens free exercise rights.
The United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part the district court's denial of a preliminary injunction against Maine's Human Rights Act. The court held that the Act's Religious Expression Rule likely violates the First Amendment, while finding no credible threat of injury from the Employment Rule.
The First Circuit dismissed an appeal challenging administrative fees on court-held funds and affirmed the dismissal of a claim regarding accrued interest. The court found the fee claim violated the automatic stay under PROMESA and the interest claim failed for lack of standing.
The First Circuit vacated a district court ruling that granted summary judgment to a Puerto Rican mayor who refused to reappoint a former Internal Auditor. The appellate court held that the refusal to reappoint constituted an adverse employment action protected by the First Amendment and that the position was not a trust role exempting the mayor from political discrimination claims.
The First Circuit affirmed the district court's denial of a preliminary injunction sought by a church challenging a university's rescission of a property sale award. The appellate court held that the church failed to demonstrate a likelihood of success on its claims that the university acted with unconstitutional religious animus.
The First Circuit affirmed a forty-eight-month sentence for possession of a machinegun, rejecting the appellant's claim that the district court failed to adequately justify an upward variance from the Sentencing Guidelines range.
The United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit issued an errata sheet to amend its opinion in this criminal appeal. The amendment clarifies a footnote on page seven regarding the indictment.