1st Circuit Court of Appeals, January, 2010, Federal Case law

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Federal Courts - 1st Circuit Court of Appeals - January 5 - January 19, 2010

Great Clips, Inc. v. Hair Cuttery of Greater Boston, L.L.C., No. 09-1376, UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIRST CIRCUIT, January 5, 2010, Decided
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Overview: Settlement agreement regarding the parties' trademarks that was reached between plaintiff and defendants' predecessor was broadly phrased and its most likely aim was to permit the parties to use their respective registered marks, notwithstanding possible arguments about potential confusion between them.

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Hostar Marine Transp. Sys. v. United States, No. 08-2535, UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIRST CIRCUIT, January 7, 2010, Decided
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Overview: A taxpayer's claimed suffering of a due process violation failed because the IRS was not prohibited from treating similarly situated taxpayers disparately. The taxpayer did not meet its burden of proving that the IRS Commissioner's presumptively correct assessment of excise tax under I.R.C. ? 4051 to the boat trailers it manufactured was wrong.

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United States v. Volungus, No. 09-1596, UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIRST CIRCUIT, January 8, 2010, Decided
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Overview: Because Congress's formulation of 18 U.S.C.S. ? 4248 constitutes a reasonable effort to discharge an important aspect of the government's custodial duty, it fell within Congress's constitutional power to pass laws that were in service to its well-settled authority to make and enforce criminal laws and to maintain prisons.

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United States v. Gonzalez-Melendez, No. 08-1497, UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIRST CIRCUIT, January 13, 2010, Decided
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Overview: Although the district court violated Fed. R. Crim. P. 24(c)(4) by allowing the exercise of peremptory strikes without designating alternate jurors, the error was harmless. Resentencing was required because defendant was denied the right to allocute under Fed. R. Crim. P. 32(i)(4)(A)(ii), and that error was not harmless.

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Cusson v. Liberty Life Assur. Co., No. 08-2381, UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIRST CIRCUIT, January 14, 2010, Decided
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Overview: A claimant failed to show that an ERISA plan administrator's decision was influenced by its conflict of interest; thus, the conflict was accorded no special weight in the court's analysis of the decision to deny long term benefits. It was reasonable to use surveillance footage as evidence; the evidence was sufficient to support the decision.

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Family Winemakers of Cal. v. Jenkins, No. 09-1169, UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIRST CIRCUIT, January 14, 2010, Decided
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Overview: Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 138, ? 19F, discriminated against interstate commerce in light of both the Commerce Clause, U.S. Const. art. I, ? 8, cl. 3, and U.S. Const. amend. XXI, ? 2, because "large" wineries -- all located outside Massachusetts -- could not distribute directly to consumers unless they did not distribute to retailers.

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United States v. Carta, Nos. 09-1949, 09-2005, UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIRST CIRCUIT, January 15, 2010, Decided
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Overview: Where an inmate admitted to sexually abusing minors, it was error to find that the Government failed to establish that he met the mental condition element for civil commitment under 18 U.S.C.S. ? 4248 because, inter alia, his sexual attraction to teenagers fell within the definition of "paraphilia not otherwise specified."

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United States v. Merlino, Nos. 02-1712, 03-1039, 07-2379, UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIRST CIRCUIT, January 15, 2010, Decided
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Overview: Court declined to remand for resentencing on Booker error grounds; given the significant downward adjustments granted by the district court, coupled with its refusal to depart further despite its authority to do so, defendant had failed to demonstrate a reasonable probability that the district court would have given him a lesser sentence.

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Richards v. Hewlett-Packard Corp., No. 08-2538, UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIRST CIRCUIT, January 19, 2010, Decided
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Overview: In an ERISA matter, insurer properly terminated insured's long-term disability benefits because the opinion of his treating physician, which was considered, was not entitled to special deference, and insured failed to show that fibromyalgia or chronic fatigue immune dysfunction rendered him unable to perform any job for which he was qualified.

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Voss v. Rolland, No. 08-1874, UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIRST CIRCUIT, January 19, 2010, Decided
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Overview: There was no abuse of discretion in approving the fairness, reasonableness, and adequacy of a settlement agreement between disabled class members and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts because transfers from nursing homes to community placements would only occur after a thorough review process and because adequate appeal measures were available.

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