Drafted and Shafted: Who Should Complain About Male-Only Registration?

SHERRY F. COLB

Cornell law professor comments on a recent opinion by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit holding that requiring men but not women to register for the draft is constitutional under mandatory U.S. Supreme Court precedents. Specifically, Colb considers what the U.S. Supreme Court should do if it agrees to hear the case and more narrowly, whether the motives of the plaintiffs in that case bear on how the case should come out.

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Axia NetMedia Corp. v. Massachusetts Technology Park Corp.

Docket: 19-1649

Opinion Date: August 31, 2020

Judge: Kermit Victor Lipez

Areas of Law: Arbitration & Mediation, Contracts

The First Circuit reversed the judgment of the district court vacating a portion of an arbitration award that voided the guaranty agreement at issue in this case, holding that, contrary to the conclusion of the district court, the arbitrator acted within the scope of his powers. Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (MTC) contracted with KCST USA, Inc. to operate and market a fiber optic network in western Massachusetts. MTC also secured a guaranty of KCST's obligations under the contract from KCST's parent company, Axia NetMedia Corporation. Axia later sued MTC over the guaranty agreement. MTC sought an order compelling arbitration, which the district court granted. The arbitrator found that MTC had materially breached the agreement with KCST, and, therefore, that the guaranty agreement was void for failure of consideration. The district court concluded that the arbitrator had exceeded the scope of his powers and vacated the award. The First Circuit reversed, holding that the arbitrator did not exceed the scope of his powers under section 10(a)(4) of the Federal Arbitration Act.

United States v. Lopez-Delgado

Docket: 18-1952

Opinion Date: August 31, 2020

Judge: David J. Barron

Areas of Law: Criminal Law

The First Circuit affirmed Defendant's sentence that he received for his conviction for possession of a machine gun, holding that the sentence was neither procedurally nor substantively unreasonable. After the district court concluded that Defendant was competent Defendant pleaded guilty to violating 18 U.S.C. 922(o) and 924(a)(2). After a sentencing hearing, the district court imposed a ninety-six-month prison sentence followed by three years of supervised release. The First Circuit affirmed, holding (1) even assuming that Defendant failed to preserve his procedural challenges, there was no clear error in the district court's fact-finding; and (2) under the totality of the circumstances, the district court's chosen sentence was not outside the "universe of reasonable sentences."

Town of Weymouth v. Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection

Dockets: 19-1794, 19-1797, 19-1803

Opinion Date: August 31, 2020

Judge: Per Curiam

Areas of Law: Energy, Oil & Gas Law, Government & Administrative Law

The First Circuit granted the petition filed by Algonquin Gas Transmission, LLC for rehearing as to remedy in this case where the First Circuit vacated the grant of an air permit by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) for a proposed natural gas compression station and remanded the case to that agency, holding that the remedy granted is remand without vacatur. On June 3, 2020, the First Circuit issued an opinion vacating the air permit for the proposed compressor station to be built as part of Algonquin's Atlantic Bridge Project, holding that the DEP did not follow its own established procedures for assessing whether an electric motor was the Best Available Control Technology (BACT). The Court's remedy was to vacate the air permit and remand to the DEP to redo the BACT. Given new developments that will materially the "balance of equities and public interest considerations," the First Circuit altered its remedy and revised its opinion to reflect that the remedy granted is remand without vacatur.