1st Circuit Court

Supreme Court will hear case of Christian group that wanted to fly its flag at Boston City Hall

The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to decide the case of a Christian group claiming that the city of Boston violated the First Amendment when it refused a request to fly a Christian flag temporarily at the Boston City Hall.

Oct 1, 2021 11:51 AM CDT

Denying disability benefits to Puerto Rico residents violates equal protection rights, ABA amicus brief says

The ABA filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday arguing that denying disability benefits to residents of Puerto Rico violates the equal protection clause.

Sep 8, 2021 12:40 PM CDT

ABA brief backs ‘individualized content questioning’ of possible jurors in high-publicity cases

Possible jurors in high-profile cases should be individually questioned to determine what they have read and heard about a case and how it affected their attitudes, the ABA says in an amicus brief filed Monday.

Jun 22, 2021 9:45 AM CDT

DOJ seeks reinstatement of death penalty for Boston Marathon bomber

The U.S. Department of Justice is backing reinstatement of the death sentence for the Boston Marathon bomber in a brief filed Monday with the U.S. Supreme Court.

Jun 16, 2021 9:29 AM CDT

SCOTUS rules against warrantless seizure of guns while man is in hospital for suicide evaluation

In a unanimous opinion Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against police who seized a man’s guns without a warrant while he was in the hospital for a suicide evaluation.

May 17, 2021 11:01 AM CDT

Afternoon Briefs: Trump-boosting fake lawyer sentenced; 3 of Biden’s new judicial picks have public defender experience

Trump-boosting fake lawyer sentenced to prison A Tennessee man who founded Students for Trump has been sentenced to 13 months in prison for posing as an elite lawyer and taking more than $46,000 from would-be clients. John Lambert had posed as a lawyer named Eric Pope and had created a…

May 13, 2021 4:19 PM CDT

Supreme Court will consider reinstating death sentence for Boston bomber

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday agreed to consider whether a federal appeals court erred when it vacated the death penalty for convicted Boston bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

Mar 22, 2021 12:19 PM CDT

Afternoon Briefs: Judge strikes down CDC eviction moratorium; lawyer’s dogged determination brings cash

Judge strikes down CDC eviction moratorium U.S. District Judge J. Campbell Barker of Tyler, Texas, has struck down a moratorium on most residential evictions by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Barker said the federal government’s power to regulate interstate commerce doesn’t extend to an eviction ban. Barker…

Feb 26, 2021 3:10 PM CST

Group sues Yale over race-conscious admissions and seeks cert in Harvard suit

Students for Fair Admissions has filed a lawsuit challenging race-conscious admissions policies at Yale University less than a month after the U.S. Department of Justice dropped a bias suit that it filed against the school during the Trump administration.

Feb 26, 2021 10:23 AM CST

Advanced border searches of electronic devices don’t require probable cause, 1st Circuit rules

A federal appeals court has upheld government policies that allow basic searches of electronic devices at the border without reasonable suspicion and advanced searches only with reasonable suspicion.

Feb 11, 2021 3:38 PM CST

Afternoon Briefs: Biden lifts transgender military ban; Boston doesn’t have to fly Christian flag, court says

Biden lifts transgender military ban President Joe Biden signed an executive order Monday that lifts the Trump administration’s ban on transgender people in the military. “What I’m doing is enabling all qualified Americans to serve their country in uniform,” Biden said as he signed the order. (The New York Times,…

Jan 25, 2021 4:27 PM CST

SCOTUS will consider constitutionality of home search during gun owner’s hospital visit

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday agreed to decide whether a police search of a gun owner’s home while he was in the hospital for a suicide evaluation was justified under an exception to the Fourth Amendment.

Nov 23, 2020 12:44 PM CST

1st Circuit upholds Harvard’s use of race in admissions; group will seek SCOTUS review

The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at Boston on Thursday upheld Harvard University’s use of race in undergraduate admissions.

Nov 12, 2020 11:46 AM CST

Afternoon Briefs: Trump faces suit over rape denial; Biden opposes SCOTUS term limits

Trump can be personally sued over rape denial A federal judge in Manhattan on Tuesday refused to substitute the federal government as the defendant in a defamation suit filed against President Donald Trump by a woman who accused him of rape. The plaintiff, journalist E. Jean Carroll, had alleged that…

Oct 27, 2020 3:58 PM CDT

1st Circuit lifts ban on immigration arrests at state courthouses in Massachusetts

A federal appeals court on Tuesday vacated a federal judge’s preliminary injunction that blocked U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement from making civil arrests of people in the country illegally at state courthouses in Massachusetts.

Sep 2, 2020 11:37 AM CDT