It's been a big year for immigration law. Many of the First Circuit Court of Appeals' most noteworthy decisions this year have dealt with asylum and what it takes to obtain "refugee" status.
Below, we've included three of the most interesting asylum rulings the appellate court has issued this year.
It will be a happier holiday for a veteran newswoman this year, thanks to the First Circuit Court of Appeals.
Wednesday, the Boston-based federal court dismissed a defamation lawsuit against Barbara Walters.
Don't you just hate it when the boss-man at a company has been sexually harassing employees for so long that no one can pinpoint when the harassment started, and everyone starts bickering about whether or not the company's wrongful employment practices policy covers his saucy antics?
It's the worst.
But if you're a lawyer for either the boss-man's company or the insurance company, that bickering means billables because the case is unlikely to be resolved in summary judgment.
Robert Infante was charged with five criminal offenses after firefighters found marijuana plants and pipe bombs in his home. Infante moved to suppress the evidence, claiming that it was discovered pursuant to a search that violated his Fourth Amendment rights. The district court denied his motion
The First Circuit affirmed that decision because a 911 call, a missing finger, and a mention of an in-house explosion are pretty good reasons for authorities to enter a home under the emergency doctrine.
Ashot, Vergine, and Haik Gasparian are citizens and natives of Armenia. The Gasparians entered the U.S. in the early 90s, and overstayed their visitors' visas. They admit they never intended to return to Armenia, where they had received threats due to Ashot's business dealings with an Azerbaijani man in the late 70s.
In 1994, Ashot filed a request for asylum and withholding of removal for the family. The immigration judge (IJ) denied the Gasparians' applications in 1995, expressing doubt about harassment through the early 90s for business activities ending in 1978. The IJ concluded, in any event, that the threats did not lead to harm nor were the threateners connected to the government.
