(United States First Circuit) - Affirmed a prison sentence followed by lifetime supervised release on charges of possession of child pornography. The defendant, who had previously been convicted of a sexual crime involving young boys, argued that the district court inadequately explained why it imposed a condition of lifetime supervised release, and also that his 120-month prison sentence was substantively unreasonable. The First Circuit rejected his arguments and affirmed.

(United States First Circuit) - Vacated an administrative ruling that terminated the Supplemental Security Income benefits of an individual who had received them since childhood for an intellectual disorder. The plaintiff disputed the medical evidence that the Social Security Administration relied on in concluding that he was no longer disabled after he turned age 18. Finding merit in his arguments, the First Circuit held that the record was insufficient to conclude he was no longer disabled.

(United States First Circuit) - Held that a defendant who won a summary judgment motion could not appeal to challenge unflattering statements found in the trial judge's opinion. In this tort lawsuit brought by a Ugandan gay-rights organization, the defendant religious leader successfully obtained summary judgment by arguing lack of extraterritorial jurisdiction but then appealed. The First Circuit concluded that a winner cannot appeal a judgment merely because there are passages in the court's opinion that displease him or her.

(United States First Circuit) - Reinstated a university professor's claims that she was retaliated against in violation of Title VII and the Maine Human Rights Act. The professor alleged that she was transferred to a different department and suffered other retaliation after she complained of being sexually harassed by her department chair. Agreeing that genuine disputes of material fact existed, the First Circuit reversed the entry of summary judgment for the university and remanded.

(United States First Circuit) - Held that a professional liability insurer had no duty to defend a physician who was accused of improperly accessing his ex-wife's medical records so he could harass and embarrass her. In this declaratory judgment action, the insurer argued that it had no duty to defend the physician from his ex-wife's legal claims, which had been filed in state courts in Maine and Maryland. The First Circuit agreed that the matters fell outside the insurance policy's coverage, and affirmed summary judgment for the insurer.

(United States First Circuit) - Affirmed a drug-trafficking sentence despite the defendant's argument that he was given an unwarranted Guidelines enhancement for obstruction of justice. The defendant, who pleaded guilty, also argued that he should be given a credit for acceptance of responsibility. However, the First Circuit found that he had maintained a false identity (i.e., used an assumed name) throughout his criminal proceedings, and thus affirmed the sentence.

(United States First Circuit) - Affirmed the sentence of a defendant who pleaded guilty to one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm and to one count of possession of a machine gun. The defendant challenged his sentence on procedural and substantive reasonableness grounds. Finding no error, the First Circuit affirmed.

(United States First Circuit) - Denied a petition for review of an administrative decision ordering a Guatemalan couple removed from the United States. The husband and wife moved to reopen their removal proceedings, claiming there was new relief available to them. Agreeing with the Board of Immigration Appeals that their motion was untimely and number-barred, the First Circuit noted that this was their 17th motion for reopening or reconsideration and was brought nearly 16 years after the initial removal order.

(United States First Circuit) - Affirmed the sentence of a defendant who pleaded guilty to one count of theft in connection with health care and to one count of wire fraud. An accountant who embezzled nearly $1 million from a radiology medical firm challenged the procedural and substantive reasonableness of his upwardly variant sentence. Finding no error, the First Circuit affirmed.

(United States First Circuit) - Granted an Indonesian national's petition for review of a decision denying his motion to reopen removal proceedings. The evangelical Christian, who alleged he would be persecuted based on his religion if returned to his homeland, argued that the Board of Immigration Appeals should have granted his motion to reopen his decade-old removal proceedings, because he had shown a material change in country conditions and had made a prima-facie showing of eligibility for asylum. Finding some merit in his arguments for reopening, the First Circuit vacated and remanded for further proceedings.

(United States First Circuit) - Affirmed the fraud-related convictions of a man who falsely promised to provide professional legal assistance to individuals who were behind on their court-ordered child support payments. On appeal, the defendant made several claims of trial and sentencing error. The First Circuit affirmed his convictions and the order of restitution but remanded for resentencing using the proper version of the Guidelines Manual.

(United States First Circuit) - Affirmed the dismissal of an employee's claim brought under the whistleblower protection provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. An employee of an investment brokerage firm claimed that she suffered retaliation after she reported to her supervisors and a company hotline that she suspected certain coworkers to be in violation of federal securities law. Agreeing with the district court, the First Circuit held that her whistleblower claim failed because she did not exhaust administrative remedies before bringing the claim.

(United States First Circuit) - Held that the U.S. government was not liable for the actions of agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives who stopped a pickup truck at gunpoint and handcuffed and detained an innocent man for up to 20 minutes. The man brought this suit under the Federal Tort Claims Act alleging false imprisonment. Affirming the district court, the First Circuit held that the government was entitled to summary judgment.

(United States First Circuit) - Held that a defendant was barred from appealing his sentence because his plea agreement contained a waiver-of-appeal clause. The defendant, who pleaded guilty to knowingly possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, asserted that the waiver-of-appeal provision should not be enforced. The First Circuit observed that there is confusion in circuit precedent as to the proper standard for evaluating the enforceability of an appellate waiver. The panel ultimately concluded here that the waiver of appeal must be enforced, and thus dismissed his appeal.

(United States First Circuit) - Affirmed a conviction on drug-smuggling charges. The defendant, who was caught with two other men aboard a vessel carrying 70 kilograms of cocaine, argued that he was a mere transporter of the contraband and thus was entitled to a minor participant reduction under the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines. Finding no error in the sentence, the First Circuit affirmed.

(United States First Circuit) - Denied both parties' appeals in a trademark lawsuit between two members of the rock band Boston. A member of the multi-platinum band sued the band's former guitarist for trademark infringement and breach of contract in a dispute over the wording of public statements about the guitarist's former role in the band. At trial, the jury rejected all of the plaintiff's claims and all of the defendant's counterclaims. Both sides appealed, and the First Circuit affirmed.

(United States First Circuit) - Affirmed the dismissal of two putative antitrust class actions alleging that a pharmaceutical company took steps to block the entry of generic versions of its leukemia-treatment drug into the U.S. market. The plaintiffs, including several labor union benefit funds, claimed that the drugmaker engaged in anticompetitive conduct by bringing sham infringement lawsuits against manufacturers trying to enter the market with generic versions of that drug. Dismissing the complaints, the district court held that the plaintiffs had not plausibly alleged their claims, and the First Circuit affirmed.

(United States First Circuit) - Held that a school did not unlawfully retaliate against a kindergarten teacher for her advocacy on behalf of students with disabilities. The teacher claimed that she was transferred to a different school and suffered other adverse actions. However, after a bench trial, the district court was not persuaded that her advocacy was the reason for these personnel actions, and thus rejected her claims under the Americans with Disabilities Act and other state and federal statutes. On appeal, the First Circuit affirmed in a 2-1 decision.

(United States First Circuit) - Held that a man who was convicted of possession of child pornography based on images found on his work computer could not proceed with his lawsuit claiming that his privacy rights were violated. The man, who was sentenced to five years' imprisonment, objected to the fact that his employer had covertly installed screenshot-capturing software on his work computer. He alleged that his employer violated the federal Electronic Communications Privacy Act, and also that police officials infringed his Fourth Amendment rights in various ways. However, the First Circuit rejected his arguments and affirmed summary judgment for the defendants.

(United States First Circuit) - Affirmed the dismissal of a homeowners' action to void a mortgage and enjoin their property's foreclosure sale. The lenders argued that the homeowners had waited too long to assert their claims under the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, the Truth in Lending Act, RICO and other statutes, because they entered into the mortgage in 2005 and defaulted on it in 2009. The First Circuit agreed that their claims were time-barred, rejecting the homeowners' fraudulent concealment argument and other attempts to escape the time bars.

(United States First Circuit) - Affirmed a district court’s decision regarding sentencing in a case where the defendant plead guilty to illegal possession of a firearm and was sentenced to probation. In 2016, defendant’s home was searched and a massive cache of weapons was found. Defendant pleaded guilty to the 2016 charges, but before he could be sentenced his probation from the 2013 charges was revoked and he was sentenced to prison for those charges. This action slotted defendant into a criminal history category that generated increased prison time under the sentencing guidelines. Defendant argued that the 2013 sentence should not be considered for the 2016 sentence. The court held that the district court properly considered the factors for sentencing.

(United States First Circuit) - Denied an undocumented immigrant's petition for review of a decision ordering her removed from the United States. The El Salvador national sought asylum relief and protection under the Convention Against Torture Act, citing gang death threats she had received in her home country that had prompted her to leave. However, the First Circuit found no basis to overturn the Board of Immigration Appeals' conclusion that she did not have a well-founded fear of future persecution or satisfy other requirements for the relief she sought.

(United States First Circuit) - Affirmed the dismissal of a consumer complaint alleging that manufacturers of prescription eye drops deliberately designed their bottles to emit unnecessarily large drops in a ploy to force patients to waste the expensive medication and thus buy more of it. Moving to dismiss on preemption grounds, the manufacturers contended that the Food and Drug Administration would have to approve any modification of the medication's bottle. Agreeing, the First Circuit held that FDA regulations preempted the plaintiffs' state law claims seeking to force a change in the bottle design.

(United States First Circuit) - Affirmed a take-nothing judgment in an action alleging mainly that a law enforcement officer unconstitutionally used excessive force while executing a search warrant. The plaintiff challenged the exclusion of certain evidence. The First Circuit rejected her arguments because her grounds for attacking the challenged evidentiary rulings were not advanced below.

(United States First Circuit) - Affirmed the dismissal of an Indian tribe's complaint against federal and Rhode Island agencies concerning a highway bridge reconstruction. The tribe argued, at base, that the state of Rhode Island broke a promise to give the tribe three parcels of land as mitigation for the expected negative impact on historic tribal land of an I-95 bridge replacement project. Agreeing with the district court, the First Circuit held that the tribe's claims were barred by federal sovereign immunity and lack of subject matter jurisdiction.

(United States First Circuit) - Affirmed the dismissal of a defamation suit brought by a hedge fund manager who claimed Bloomberg News falsely reported that he was being investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The plaintiff brought suit against Bloomberg, as well as the reporter and editor of the story, alleging that they had defamed him and committed other common-law torts. Agreeing with the district court, the First Circuit held that the plaintiff was required to plausibly allege actual malice because he was at least a limited-purpose public figure and that he had failed to allege such facts.

(United States First Circuit) - Affirmed convictions of bulk-cash smuggling and currency structuring. The defendant argued that his convictions must be vacated because of erroneous evidentiary rulings, improper jury instructions, and other errors. Unconvinced by his arguments, the First Circuit affirmed.

(United States First Circuit) - Dismissed an alien's petition for review of a decision denying his request for cancellation of removal. The Board of Immigration Appeals had found that the citizen of Guatemala was ineligible for cancellation of removal, due in part to criminal charges pending against him of child molestation of his ex-wife's then-twelve-year-old granddaughter. On appeal, the First Circuit dismissed his petition for review.

(United States First Circuit) - Reinstated a lawsuit alleging that a health insurance company improperly denied coverage for in-patient mental health services. After several unsuccessful administrative appeals, the insured sued the insurance company under ERISA, claiming that all of her time spent at a mental health residential treatment facility was medically necessary and thus should have been covered under an employer-provided healthcare plan. On appeal, the First Circuit vacated an order granting summary judgment for the insurance company, holding that the district court should have allowed the insured to supplement the administrative record.

(United States First Circuit) - Held that the government did not breach its plea agreement with a defendant by arguing, at least implicitly, that the agreed-upon 60-month sentence for his weapons charge was too low. The defendant contended that prosecutors undercut the plea deal. Finding no breach of the parties' agreement, the First Circuit affirmed.

(United States First Circuit) - Affirmed two men's convictions of a conspiracy to distribute cocaine base. The defendants raised a variety of constitutional and evidentiary arguments against their convictions. However, the First Circuit found no error in any of their claims of error.

(United States First Circuit) - Held that the exercise of specific personal jurisdiction over a German company in a trademark infringement action did not violate due process. The German company, which operated an English-language website, argued that it lacked the requisite minimum contacts with the United States. Disagreeing, the First Circuit affirmed the district court's ruling that the exercise of personal jurisdiction was constitutional.

(United States First Circuit) - Affirmed the denial of a retail chain's motion to compel arbitration of a proposed class action brought by blind customers. The retailer moved to compel arbitration of the discrimination lawsuit, citing an arbitration provision in the terms and conditions of a loyalty program of which the individual plaintiffs were members. However, the district court concluded that the arbitration provision was not enforceable here, and the First Circuit found no error in that ruling.

(United States First Circuit) - Affirmed convictions on federal carjacking and weapons counts. The defendant argued that his carjacking offense did not qualify as a crime of violence and thus could not serve as a predicate for the weapons counts. Finding no error, the First Circuit affirmed.

(United States First Circuit) - Affirmed. A motion to correct a 1996 sentence as a career offender was not timely because the motion asserts a right not recognized in caselaw.

World Earth day is human arrogance disguised as caring. The Earth is not going anywhere; we are.

The 50th anniversary would be the perfect time to reassess the warnings of those 50 years and take a practical approach to have an impact that is reality based- example - the green new deal is a total farce. We can make good and actionable goals- reality bases is practical.

We must unite to save nature.

Pollution is the main cause and we are the reason for that cause, we can see earth healing as we all are under quarantine.

Earth day should have been born earlier. Better late than never!

We need to put more effort towards saving our planet.

Agree with it. We need to help Earth heal now.

The above article is nice and interesting, thank you willing to share! :)

I agree with you. We need to think about the earth more for the future.

In reply to <a href="https://wordpress.com/blog/2020/03/26/block-editor-upgrades/#comment-413515">Roland Little</a>. Hi, Roland! We have some <a href="https://wordpress.com/support/wordpress-editor/" rel="nofollow ugc">videos and help in our WordPress Editor documentation</a> that might help out with that.

Cooler Master has just released an updated version of their Hyper 212 Turbo dual-fan single-tower CPU air cooler, which is being called the Hyper 212 ARGB Turbo.

The post Cooler Master Releases the Hyper 212 ARGB Turbo CPU Cooler appeared first on ThinkComputers.org.

The HyperX x Ducky One 2 Mini mechanical gaming keyboard features HyperX red linear mechanical switches built for performance, longevity and an 80 million lifetime click rating per switch.

The post HyperX Teams up with Ducky and Launches HyperX x Ducky One 2 Mini Mechanical Gaming Keyboard appeared first on ThinkComputers.org.

This week on the Podcast we talk about our reviews of the NZXT H1 Mini-ITX case and the Lexar NM610 M.2 NVMe SSD. We also discuss the Comet Lake-S launch, AMD B550 leaks, a unique way researchers can use your power supply to hack your computer and more!

The post ThinkComputers Podcast #221 appeared first on ThinkComputers.org.

In the briefing leading up to today's launch of the Ryzen 3 3100 and Ryzen 3 3300X AMD fully detailed their upcoming B550 chipset. Unlike the B450 chipset, B550 will support PCI-Express 4.0 for both graphics and storage.

The post AMD Details the B550 Chipset appeared first on ThinkComputers.org.

MSI has announced an upgrade program if you are going to be purchasing one of their upcoming Z490 motherboards. This program is valid on motherboards purchased May 6th through June 15th.

The post MSI Announces Upgrade Program for Z490 Motherboards appeared first on ThinkComputers.org.