1st Circuit Court of Appeals
By: Taylor Vance
Locations and Districts
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Located in Boston, Massachusetts
Maine
New Hampshire
Puerto Rico
Rhode Island
Meeting Times
• Most sittings are held in Boston, and they usually sit
for one week most months of the year
• One week in July or August
• On week each in March and November in Old San
Juan, Puerto Rico
Judges
• Chief judge is Sandra Lynch
• There are six active judges
o Four of those are senior judges
• Circuit justice is Stephen Breyer
Chief and Circuit Judges
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Sandra Lynch (Chief judge) [Clinton]
Juan R. Torruella (Circuit judge) [Reagan]
Jerrefy R. Howard (Circuit judge) [G.W. Bush]
Ojetta Rogeriee (Circuit judge) [Obama]
William J. Kayatta Jr. (Circuit judge) [Obama]
Senior Judges
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Levin H. Campbell [Nixon]
Bruce M. Selya [Reagan]
Conrad K. Cyr [G.H.W. Bush]
Michael Boudin [G.H.W. Bush]
Norman H Stahl [G.H.W. Bush]
Kermit Lopez [Clinton]
Major Cases
• West v. Randall (1820): Dispute over estate of
William West, a revolutionary war general, who died
in 1814. The dispute was over who must be made
parties to the lawsuit.
• Ayotte v. Planned Parenthood of Northern New
England (2006): Facial challenge to New
Hampshire’s parental notification abortion law.
Wanted to protect the pregnant minor. Law was
unconstitutional and an injunction against its
enforcement was proper. Supreme court vacated
this judgment and remanded the case.
Major Cases Cont’d.
• Cook v. Gates (2008): “Don’t ask don’t tell” against
due process and equal protection on 5th and 1st
amendments. Supreme court decision held that
sexual orientation is a suspect or quasi-suspect
classification.
• Doe v. Bush (2003): Challenging the constitutionality
of the 2003 invasion of Iraq. A group of soldiers,
parents of soldiers, and members of congress
claimed that the invasion of Iraq was
unconstitutional. Case was dismissed February 24,
2003.
Major Cases Cont’d.
• Rogers v. Okin (1975): Stated that a mental patient,
committed to a state psychiatric facility and
assumed to be competent, has the right to make
treatment decisions in non emergency conditions.
Decision was that a court must hold a full
evidentiary hearing to make a decision.
• Sampson v. Chanell (1940): Interpreted the
application of the Erie Doctrine (Erie v. Tompkins)
where diversity jurisdiction is invoked in a choice law
situation, where a court in one state may be called
upon to apply the laws of another state. Result:
judgment was reversed and remanded.
Cases
• There are fourteen total cases that have been tried
in this court system some of these include:
Campbell v. General Dynamics Govt. Sys. Corp. (2005)
Commissioner v. Boylston Market Association (1942)
Eastern Enterprises v. Apfel (1998)
Fraser v. Major League Soccer (2002)
Gill v. Office of Personal Management (2012)
Joint Tribal Council of The Passomaquoddy Tribe v. Morton
(1975)
o Massachusetts v. U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services (2012)
o Mitsubishi Motors Corp. v. Soler Chrysler-Plymouth Inc.
(1985)
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Sources
• Hairston, J. T. (n.d). Mixed Motive Cases: How to
Meet the Burden of Proof Under Write Line. Labor
Law Journal, 34(10), 663-666.
• NISBET B. WHAT CAN RICO NOT DO?: RICO AND THE
NON-ECONOMIC INTRASTATE ENTERPRISE THAT
PERPETRATES ONLY NON-ECONOMIC
RACKETEERING ACTIVITY. Journal Of Criminal Law &
Criminology [serial online]. Spring2009
2009;99(2):509-539. Available from: SocINDEX with
Full Text, Ipswich, MA. Accessed March 19, 2014.
• http://www.ca1.uscourts.gov