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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...

Criminal Law—First Circuit Denies Double-Intent Requirement for Internet Enticement of Minors—United States v. Dwinells, 508 F.3d 63 (1st Cir. 2007), cert. denied, 128 S. Ct. 2961 (2008)

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

First Circuit Review 2009 Since the advent of the Internet, Congress, law enforcement officials, and the public have tried to protect children from online sexual predators.  In 1996, Congress amended the Telecommunications Act, criminalizing the enticement of minors...