When Children Stay Home—A COVID-19 Consequence

KATHRYN ROBB

Kathryn Robb, executive director of CHILD USAdvocacy, describes how the COVID-19 pandemic uniquely endangers children who are being sexually abused by people close to them. Robb describes ways in which teachers, coaches, and other adult figures in children’s lives must do to ensure the safety of children in this time when schools and other safe spaces are shut down.

Read More

Norton v. Rodrigues

Docket: 18-1784

Opinion Date: April 7, 2020

Judge: Ojetta Rogeriee Thompson

Areas of Law: Civil Procedure, Civil Rights

The First Circuit dismissed this interlocutory appeal for lack of appellate jurisdiction and remanded the matter to the district court, holding that Appellant's challenge to the district court's denial of summary judgment was not a final, appealable order. Plaintiff, an inmate at Souza Baranowski Correctional Center (SBCC), brought this lawsuit alleging that Appellant, an SBCC prison official, and other SBCC officials failed to protect him from a substantial risk of serious harm in violation of his constitutional rights. Appellant and the remaining defendants filed for summary judgment on grounds of qualified immunity. The district court granted summary judgment to all SBCC officials except Appellant. Appellant filed a timely interlocutory appeal, alleging that the district court erred because the undisputed material facts showed Appellant was not deliberately indifferent to a substantial risk of harm to Plaintiff. The First Circuit dismissed the appeal, holding that Appellant's challenge rested on factual, rather than legal, grounds, and therefore, this Court lacked appellate jurisdiction.

NuVasive, Inc. v. Day

Docket: 19-1611

Opinion Date: April 8, 2020

Judge: David J. Barron

Areas of Law: Contracts

The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court granting a preliminary junction to Defendant's former employer (Plaintiff), a healthcare company incorporated in Delaware, that enforced a nonsolicitation clause in the employment contract between the parties, holding that the district court did not err in applying Delaware law to assess whether Plaintiff had satisfied the "likelihood of success" requirement. The injunction sought by Plaintiff enforced a nonsolicitation clause in the parties' contract barring Defendant from engaging in certain work for his new employer, one of Plaintiff's competitors. The choice-of-law provision set forth in the employment contract explicitly stated that the agreement should be interpreted and enforced in accordance with Delaware law, without giving effect to its laws pertaining to conflict of las. The district court held that Massachusetts' choice-of-law rules permitted it to enforce the choice-of-law provision, thus premising its issuance of the preliminary injunction on its application of Delaware law. Defendant appealed, arguing that Massachusetts and not Delaware law applied to Plaintiff's breach of contract claims, and therefore, Plaintiff could not satisfy the likelihood-of-success requirement in seeking a preliminary injunction based on those claims. The First Circuit affirmed, holding that there was no merit in Defendant's challenge to the issuance of the preliminary injunction against him.

United States v. Smith

Docket: 19-1615

Opinion Date: April 8, 2020

Judge: William Joseph Kayatta, Jr.

Areas of Law: Criminal Law

The First Circuit reversed the order of the district court denying Defendant's request for a sentence reduction under Section 404 of the First Step Act of 2018, holding that the district court erred in finding that Defendant was ineligible for a reduction on the grounds that his offense was not a "covered offense" under the First Step Act. Specifically, the district court concluded that because the penalties for the quantity of controlled substances attributed to Defendant remained the same after passage of the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010, he was not convicted for "a violation of a Federal criminal statute, the statutory penalties for which were modified." The First Circuit reversed and remanded the case, holding that Congress intended to provide potential relief to persons like Defendant whose penalties were dictated by 21 U.S.C. 841(b)(1)(C), and therefore, Defendant was convicted for a "covered offense" under Section 404.