Constitutional Law—Mechanical Race-Conscious Transfer Plan in Elementary and Secondary Public School System Held Constitutional—Comfort v. Lynn School Committee, 418 F.3d 1 (1st Cir. 2005)

May 17, 2006 | Case Comments, Number 4, Print Edition, Volume 39

First Circuit Review 2006 The Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution provides that no state shall deny to any person within its jurisdiction equal protection of the laws.  The Supreme Court has struck down inflexible...

Striking a Balance: The Efforts of One Massachusetts City to Draft an Effective Anti-Loitering Law Within the Bounds of the Constitution

May 17, 2006 | Notes, Number 4, Print Edition, Volume 39

In August of 2004, Massachusetts Acting Governor Kerry Healey signed into law a “gang loitering” bill that made Somerville the first city in the state where gang members could be arrested for disobeying a police officer’s order to disperse from designated public...

Criminal Law/Constitutional Law——Judicial Fact-finding Limited in Post-hoc Investigation into Prior Plea-based Conviction——Shepard v. United States, 544 U.S. 13 (2005)

May 17, 2006 | Case Comments, Number 4, Print Edition, Volume 39

First Circuit Review 2006 The Armed Career Criminals Act (ACCA) mandates a fifteen-year minimum prison sentence for persons possessing a firearm with three previous violent felony convictions.  In Taylor v. United States, the Supreme Court prescribed an outer limit on...

Civil Procedure—Supplemental Jurisdiction Extended to Plaintiffs in Diversity Jurisdiction Cases with Claims Less Then $75,000—Exxon Mobil Corporation v. Allapattah Services, Inc., 125 S. Ct. 2611 (2005)

May 17, 2006 | Case Comments, Number 4, Print Edition, Volume 39

The federal courts derive subject matter jurisdiction from Congress as outlined in the United States Constitution.  By enacting 28 U.S.C. § 1367, Congress granted federal courts supplemental jurisdiction over claims where original subject matter jurisdiction is...

Does the Right to Trial by Jury Place Constitutional Limits on Prejudgment Interest?

May 17, 2006 | Lead Articles, Number 4, Print Edition, Volume 39

“State constitutions allow the people of each state to choose their own theory of government and of law, within what the nation requires, [and] to take responsibility for their own liberties. . . .”  For as long as Rhode Islanders have had a state constitution, trial...

Tort Law—Diminishing the Burden Placed on Plaintiffs to Prove Municipality Liability—Young v. City of Providence, 404 F.3d 4 (1st Cir. 2005)

May 17, 2006 | Case Comments, Number 4, Print Edition, Volume 39

First Circuit Review 2006 42 U.S.C. § 1983 imposes civil liability on municipalities when a policy, or the execution of a policy, is found to be unconstitutional.  The United States Supreme Court has developed a stringent set of guidelines for determining municipality...