Ester Pauline Budiono, a young Indonesian woman, petitions for review of the denial of her application for asylum by the Board of Immigration Appeals ("BIA"). She is a Christian and ethnic Chinese and asserted persecution on both grounds. We deny the petition... Budiono arrived in the United States on December 17, 2003 on a tourist visa that authorized her to remain in the country until June 14, 2004. She overstayed and on January 25, 2005, filed an application for asylum with the...  

This case has its roots in one of history's bleakest periods: the Holocaust. It began with the de facto confiscation of a valuable work of art by the Third Reich, which eventually led to the litigation that confronts us today... In its present form, the case presents a narrow legal question concerning the viability of a laches defense asserted by the current possessor of the work of art in an effort to fend off an action for replevin. After the close of discovery, the district court granted...  

The spiraling cost of brand-name prescription drugs is a matter of great concern to government at every level. New Hampshire has attempted to curb this escalating problem by enacting innovative legislation. Certain affected companies have challenged New Hampshire's legislative response, and that challenge raises important constitutional questions that lie at the intersection of free speech and cyberspace. The tale follows... Pharmaceutical sales representatives, known in industry argot as...  

Congress established the Medicare program in 1966 to provide health insurance to the elderly and disabled. See 42 U.S.C. § 1395 et seq. Part A of that program covers, inter alia, expenses related to inpatient hospitalization. The amount Medicare pays for these services is generally determined under the prospective payment system (PPS). See Robert Wood Johnson Univ. Hosp. v. Thompson, 297 F.3d 273, 275 (3d Cir. 2002). Under that system, Medicare reimburses healthcare providers according to...  

This is an appeal by Island View Residential Treatment Center ("Island View"), S.S.E. ("Stacy") and S.A.F. ("Sarah") seeking to recover from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts ("Blue Cross") the cost of in-patient care furnished by Island View to Sarah, then a teenage patient. The background events are not in real dispute and, as the case turns in the end on a limitations issue, a detailed description of the medical issues is unnecessary... Sarah began...  

Fourth-party plaintiff Jane Doe ("Doe") appeals from a final judgment in favor of fourth-party defendant National Union Fire Insurance Company of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania ("National Union"). In a prior Massachusetts state court action, Doe obtained a judgment against one of National Union's insureds, Ed Hovestadt. In this appeal, Doe challenges a final judgment in favor of National Union entered by the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts based on (1)...  

Appellant Paul Giragosian owned and operated a gun shop in Arlington, Massachusetts for approximately thirty-one years. In March 2007, Arlington's Chief of Police, Frederick Ryan, revoked and forfeited appellant's licenses to carry and sell firearms. Subsequently, appellant filed a 42 U.S.C. § 1983 suit in federal district court alleging that Ryan and the Town of Arlington violated his rights under the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments. The district court granted appellees' motion to...  

This is a diversity case, and the parties agree that Massachusetts law controls. The hostilities initially took the form of a garden-variety insurance dispute — but the case has now morphed into an interesting question about the preclusive effect (if any) of a declaratory judgment on a subsequent action for damages arising out of the same nucleus of operative facts. The district court determined that a final judgment in the original declaratory action barred the maintenance of the...  

On February 10, 2006, plaintiff-appellant Maria Velázquez Linares slipped and fell while a patron at the post office in Cataño, Puerto Rico. Neither the details surrounding her fall nor the extent of her injuries and damages are germane to this appeal. Instead, we fast-forward to March 3, 2008, when the plaintiff sued the United States and others under the Federal Tort Claims Act, 28 U.S.C. §§ 1346(b), 2671-2680... The plaintiff duly filed her paper complaint in the district...  

Timothy J. Ganun, Jr. pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute fifty grams or more of cocaine base, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(A), and 846. He was sentenced to the applicable statutory mandatory minimum sentence of ten years. See id. § 841(b)(1)(A). In January 2008, Ganun filed a form motion requesting appointment of counsel to represent him in pursuing a motion for reduction of sentence pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2) and the Sentencing...  

Plaintiff Wagner and Wagner Auto Sales, Inc. appeals from the district court's entry of summary judgment rejecting its claims against defendant Land Rover North America, Inc. under the Automobile Dealer's Day in Court Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1222 ("ADDCA"), and Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 93B, the Massachusetts "Dealer's Bill of Rights." See generally Coady Corp. v. Toyota Motor Distribs., Inc., 361 F.3d 50, 54 (1st Cir. 2004). LRNA terminated a 2004 temporary dealership arrangement with...  

This is an appeal from a judgment of the district court granting a motion to dismiss plaintiffs' action against UNUM Life Insurance Company of America ("UNUM"). Plaintiffs Roy Mogel, Todd D. Lindsay and Joseph R. Thorley, who are beneficiaries under employee welfare benefit plans, brought this action on behalf of themselves and a class of beneficiaries. They allege breaches of fiduciary duties under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act ("ERISA"), 29 U.S.C. §§...  

Plaintiffs SBT Holdings, LLC, and its owners, Brian, Thomas, and Susan Foley, undertook a condominium real estate development project in the Town of Westminster, Massachusetts. After delays caused by environmental regulation demands by the Town, plaintiffs sued the Town, the Town of Westminster Conservation Commission, and various individuals. Suit was brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 alleging that the defendants, in violation of plaintiffs' equal protection rights, intentionally obstructed...  

Defendant-Appellant Tyson Ford appeals his conviction under the felon-in-possession statute, 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1). His main complaint is that the district court erred in denying his motion to suppress a firearm found on his person because it was obtained during an unconstitutional search and seizure. Finding no error, we affirm the conviction... I. Background... We relate the facts "'as the trial court found them, consistent with record support.'" United States v. Ruid az, 529...  

A jury found in favor of plaintiff, Stephen Parker, on his claim that defendant, Officer Kevin Gerrish of the South Portland Police Department, violated his constitutional rights by using his Taser during the course of arresting Parker for operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol. The jury awarded $111,000 to Parker, who complained that the use of the Taser and subsequent cuffing caused nerve damage to his arm and injured his shoulder. After trial, the district court...  

IDC Properties, Inc. ("IDC") appeals the judgment declaring the title insurance policy issued by Commonwealth Land Title Insurance Company ("Commonwealth") null and void because of material misrepresentations by IDC. On this appeal, IDC argues that the district court applied the wrong legal standard for material misrepresentation. Finding that the district court applied the correct standard, we affirm... I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY... We provide a summary of the relevant...  

This appeal requires us to decide whether the fifteen-year mandatory minimum term of imprisonment under 18 U.S.C. § 2251(e), as applied, violates the Eighth Amendment's prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment. For the reasons explained below, we conclude that it does not. Consequently, we affirm the judgment below... The background facts can be succinctly summarized. The jury supportably could have found that defendant-appellant Byron Polk, over the course of some four months, engaged...  

This appeal challenges a $3,068,000 money judgment imposed on defendant Tammmy Levesque, a "mule" in a marijuana distribution conspiracy. Levesque argues this money judgment forfeiture exceeds the bounds of 21 U.S.C. 853, that it is improperly calculated in light of the Supreme Court's recent discussion of the term "proceeds" in United States v. Santos, 128 S. Ct. 2020 (2008), and that it violates the Eighth Amendment's Excessive Fines Clause... I... On October 10, 2006,...  

There is a line between zealous representation and abuse of the processes of litigation. Lawyers who overstep it do so at their peril. In the case before us, the district court found that a law firm had crossed the line by unreasonably and vexatiously multiplying the proceedings in a class action. See 28 U.S.C. § 1927. Accordingly, the court imposed sanctions... The law firm appeals from the sanctions order. It argues, first, that the record fails to disclose any sanctionable conduct and...  

Petitioner Zheng, a citizen of China with two American born children, seeks to reinstate her appeal of the denial by the Board of Immigration [BIA] of Zheng's request for asylum and related relief. She alleges that the appeal was withdrawn by her attorney due to a miscommunication and that she never intended to abandon the appeal. Zheng also seeks judicial review of a decision by the BIA denying her motion to reopen immigration proceedings, on the basis of newly discovered evidence. Zheng may...