First Things First

“[A] knowledge of the law and a devotion to its principles are vital to a republic, and lie at the very foundation of its strength.”

Joseph Story

The project of writing about legal opinions is perhaps as old as courts themselves. While numerous motivations underlie that project, a common thread through the centuries is the desire to ensure that persons subject to the law know both the substance and source of their responsibilities. Where a society holds to the principle of law as the result of reasoned judgment, an open discussion of the law assists in refining judgment, rectifying error, and reinforcing faith in the courts.

This project, First Things First, aims to support that discussion by sharing summaries of select decisions of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, along with brief analysis and helpful statistics about the court. Given the limited number of cases decided each year by the Supreme Court, in many instances the courts of appeals are the final deciders of the law within their jurisdiction. It is the goal of this project to make that law in the First Circuit more accessible and understandable to readers, be they lawyers or the general public, and to offer some additional insight regarding the implications and impact of the court’s decisions.

First Things First is the first stop for news on the First Circuit. With an impending judicial nomination for the court and important decisions with nationwide effects issuing regularly, there is certain to be a great deal of it to come.