Beyond Monetary Loss: The First Circuit Confirms Broad Judicial Discretion to Vary Upward When Victim Privacy and Trust Are Eroded Commentary on United States v. Waithe, 85 F.4th ___ (1st Cir. 2025)...
Fine-Tuning Pike: The First Circuit Refines Dormant Commerce Clause Analysis for Local Cruise-Ship Disembarkation Caps 1. Introduction Ass’n to Preserve and Protect Local Livelihoods v. Town of Bar...
“When a Town Draws the Line at the Pier” – The First Circuit’s Refashioning of Pike Balancing and the “Continuous-Flow” Doctrine in Ass’n to Preserve and Protect Local Livelihoods v. Sidman (1st Cir....
Pike Balancing Re-Energised: The First Circuit’s Refocus on Fact-Finding in Dormant Commerce Clause Cases Commentary on Penobscot Bay & River Pilots Ass’n. v. Town of Bar Harbor, Nos. 24-1317 etc....
United States v. Hernandez-Rodriguez: First Circuit Clarifies Reach of the Vertical Collective Knowledge Doctrine in Automobile-Exception Searches 1. Introduction United States v....
“Who Bears the Clock?” – First Circuit Clarifies Burden-Shifting and Tolling in Puerto Rico Medical-Malpractice Actions Cruz-Cedeño v. Vega-Moral, No. 23-1609 (1st Cir. Aug. 8 2025) 1. Introduction...
“Deliberate Indifference in the Box” – The First Circuit’s New Standard on Solitary-Confinement Liability 1. Introduction Cintron v. Bibeault, No. 22-1716 (1st Cir. Aug. 5 2025), marks the most...
United States v. Vick – First Circuit Narrows the “Sole-Investigatory-Motive” Test in Community-Caretaking Impoundments & Inventory Searches Introduction In United States v. Vick, No. 24-1721 (1st...
United States v. Legassa: First Circuit Clarifies Harmless-Error Review of Lay “Legal” Opinions and Reaffirms Broad Trial-Court Discretion under Rules 401 & 403 Introduction In United States v....
United States v. Huertas-Mercado: Pandemic-Era Delays, Successive Indictments, and the Modern Sixth-Amendment Speedy-Trial Balance 1. Introduction United States v. Huertas-Mercado, Nos. 23-1208 &...
Pandemic-Era Speedy-Trial Calculus and Carjacking Mens Rea: A Commentary on United States v. Pizarro-Mercado (1st Cir. 2025) Introduction The First Circuit’s consolidated opinion in United States v....
First Circuit Clarifies “Reasonably Clear Damages” Trigger for Prompt and Fair Settlement Duties Under Massachusetts Chapters 93A & 176D Introduction Appleton v. National Union Fire Insurance Co. of...
“Funds” Encompasses Virtual Currency: First Circuit Rejects Major-Questions Challenge and Affirms Federal Power to Police Unlicensed Bitcoin Transmitters Introduction United States v. Freeman,...
Active Ratification Required: Lavigne v. Great Salt Bay Community School Board Tightens Pleading Standards for Monell Liability 1. Introduction Lavigne v. Great Salt Bay Community School Board, No....
Rivera Samayoa v. Bondi: The First Circuit’s Post-Wilkinson Blueprint for Reviewing “Exceptional and Extremely Unusual Hardship” Findings 1. Introduction In Rivera Samayoa v. Bondi, No. 24-1432 (1st...
“From Silence to Liability” – The First Circuit’s Expansion of Affirmative-Act Liability under the State-Created Danger Doctrine in Doe v. City of Boston 1. Introduction In Doe v. City of Boston, the...
“More Than Awkward”: The First Circuit Elevates the Threshold for University Disciplinary Action Under Tinker Introduction Doe v. University of Massachusetts, No. 24-1458 (1st Cir. July 25, 2025) is...
Circumstantial Knowledge Suffices: The First Circuit’s Refined Test for Aiding-and-Abetting Carjacking in United States v. Hernández-Carrasquillo 1. Introduction On 25 July 2025 the U.S. Court of...
The “Fingerprint-Plus” Doctrine: First Circuit Clarifies Sufficiency of Circumstantial Evidence in Mail-Based Drug Conspiracies – Commentary on United States v. Reyes-Ballista (1st Cir. 2025) 1....
“Composite-Evidentiary Conspiracy”: First Circuit Affirms Conviction on Interlocking Circumstantial Proof and Re-states the Limited Scope of Ineffective-Assistance Review on Direct Appeal – A...