Criminal Procedure—In-Custody Requirement of Relief Under the Writ of Error Coram Nobis—Trenkler v. United States, 536 F.3d 85 (1st Cir. 2008)

Feb 1, 2009 | Case Comments, Number 2, Print Edition, Volume 42

First Circuit Review 2009 Under the All Writs Act of the United States Code, federal courts have the power to entertain an array of common-law writs.  In certain narrow circumstances, the rare writ of error coram nobis is a remedial petition primarily available to...

Immigration Law—Enforcing Administrative Exhaustion Requirements for Pattern-and-Practice Claims Concerning Due Process Violations During Immigration Raids—Aguilar v. United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement, 510 F.3d 1 (1st Cir. 2007) (no pet. for cert.)

Feb 1, 2009 | Case Comments, Number 2, Print Edition, Volume 42

First Circuit Review 2009 Immigration statutes have traditionally contained provisions that limit federal district court jurisdiction over administrative appeals and require individuals to exhaust administrative remedies before seeking judicial review of immigration...

Constitutional Law—“Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”: Acceptable in an Accepting Society?—Cook v. Gates, 528 F.3d 42 (1st Cir. 2008)

Feb 1, 2009 | Case Comments, Number 2, Print Edition, Volume 42

First Circuit Review 2009 The “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” statute (DADT), enacted by Congress in 1993, allows homosexuals into the military if they do not engage in homosexual conduct.  Congress created DADT to preserve the morale and unit cohesion standards of the...

Labor and Employment Law—Distinction Between Damages and Benefits Allowed for Past Employees Under ERISA Claim for Fiduciary Breaches—Evans v. Akers, 534 F.3d 65 (1st Cir. 2008)

Feb 1, 2009 | Case Comments, Number 2, Print Edition, Volume 42

First Circuit Review 2009 Congress passed the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) as a means to govern employee-benefit plans.1 ERISA provides a cause of action to plan participants whose vested benefits were miscalculated or reduced by alleged employer...

Criminal Law—Expert Testimony Not Required to Distinguish Pornographic Images of Real Children from Virtual Children—United States v. Wilder, 526 F.3d 1 (1st Cir. 2008), cert. denied, 129 S. Ct. 626 (2008)

Feb 1, 2009 | Case Comments, Number 2, Print Edition, Volume 42

First Circuit Review 2009 Preventing child abuse is an important government interest that justifies excluding child pornography, as a class of speech, from First Amendment protection.  Nonetheless, the First Amendment continues to protect computer-generated or virtual...

Intellectual Property Law—Frustrating the Purpose of the Copyright Clause: First Circuit Restrictively Interprets Copyright Registration Requirements—Torres-Negrón v. J & N Records, L.L.C., 504 F.3d 151 (1st Cir. 2007)

Feb 1, 2009 | Case Comments, Number 2, Print Edition, Volume 42

First Circuit Review 2009 Intellectual property rights in musical works theoretically arise at the moment of creation.  The ability to enforce these rights in the face of infringement, however, requires that artists fulfill specific registration requirements with the...