Mass Appeal!
"A broad, irreverent look at appellate issues in the commonwealth of Massachusetts and the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals."
Author: Matthew Cameron is a solo practitioner in Boston.
Blawg Related Categories: Appellate Practice • Criminal Justice • Immigration Law • 1st Circuit Court • States • Massachusetts • Solo / Small Firm
Recent Posts from Mass Appeal!
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Could Professor Gates have been convicted of disorderly conduct?
So. Gatesgate.1 For as eminently debatable as this week’s arrest of Professor Henry Louis Gates and its aftermath may be for people who are properly qualified to discuss the state of race relations in America,…
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HEY YOU GUUUUUYS!!!!!!!
So you’ve been caught stealing from The Electric Company.1 Your trial and conviction were otherwise unremarkable, and you’re short on good issues for appeal. Might as well try this: The defendant lastly contends that the…
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Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts = Crawford II: The Final Confrontation
There’s something kind of inherently dodgy about sequels. They’re usually nothing more than a quick buck and a cheap laugh, the faint shadow of what we enjoyed so much the first time around. For every…
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Confronting Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts
It’s the bottom of the ninth for The Nine as we head into the U.S. Supreme Court’s last full week of the 2008-2009 term. As always, the Court is saving some of the best—and, inevitably,…
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This whole court is out of order! Why the AAO has no reason to live, and why it matters.
The Administrative Appeals Office (”AAO”) of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (”CIS”) may be the most mysterious appellate body in the American legal system. The AAO is tasked1 with the review of a…
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Update: Small victories for widows, right to counsel
“…the foreigner, and the fatherless, and the widow, who are within your gates.” —Deuteronomy 16:14 There are more than a half-dozen Bible verses which extend equal status to immigrants and widows in the same breath,…
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Bereavement Fair: First strikes down “widow penalty”
Great stuff coming down on every level these past couple of weeks, more on which maybe later. But I have to say a few things about the First Circuit’s thoughtful and eminently humane ruling in…
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Supremes tighten their Belton
I had always thought that the Supreme Court’s ruling in New York v. Belton, 453 U.S. 454 (1981) was a little much. As of today, I guess they’ve finally agreed with me. Those who have…
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First Circuit declines to OK computers in Tenenbaum webcast appeal
Despite Boston federal District Court Judge Nancy Gertner’s best efforts, as of yesterday the First Circuit has ensured that no one’s listening in1 for the Tenenbaum file-sharing battle. In a sort of gratuituously comprehensive 25-page…
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Radiohead’s Message in Boston File-Sharing Battle: “You and Whose Army?”
Radiohead always has a show or two in the Boston area on every international tour, and I’ve seen and thoroughly enjoyed them here (among other places) more than once. So I was particularly excited to…