Short Circuit

The First Amendment protects your right to record the police. Yes, we already knew that, said the Tenth Circuit. Um, you did? Dan Alban presents a case where an officer blatantly tried to stop a vblogger from recording him by threatening to run him over, and where the court did a few interesting gymnastics in order to say what always should have been obvious. Quality immunity hijinks ensue, but wi...

A town made it illegal to hold a sign. Anywhere. Really, just holding a sign is illegal. Sound like a First Amendment violation? That’s what we thought. And that’s what David Markese of the American Liberties Institute thought too. David joins us to discuss a recent Eleventh Circuit ruling in favor of his client after they took the town of Fort Myers Beach to court. Then it’s off to Texas to settl...

Ever worked in a salt mine? It seems some non-union employees hadn't either when their boss joked that they might be sent to one. That wasn't funny to someone completely unconnected to the employer, who filed an unfair labor practice. Jared McClain joins us to discuss this funny case from the Third Circuit. And get a refresher on the open fields doctrine--and how it doesn't apply to seizures--from...

Recorded live at UCLA, we’re introducing a new study from the Institute for Justice: Constitutional G.P.A., is your Government Preventing Accountability? The study grades each state on how its citizens are able–or all too often, are not able–to hold government officials accountable when their rights are violated. It’s also a research tool you can use yourself. Hosted by IJ...

On a special Short Circuit, we sit down with Michael Bindas, a senior attorney at the Institute for Justice and lead attorney in Carson v. Makin. There, the Supreme Court just ruled in favor of Michael’s clients and thousands of children whose parents now have additional options for their education. We talk to Michael about the underlying religious liberty and school choice issues, what it’s like...

It’s just so easy these days to put a camera on a pole and record everything that happens in someone’s front yard for eight months. So easy that we keep getting cases where that’s exactly what the police do. Without a warrant. IJ attorney Josh Windham unpacks the latest, out of the First Circuit, Courier font and all. The judges don’t agree, but the rest of us can that this...

We discuss a couple legal immunities, one listeners will be familiar with and one that’s pretty unknown. The second is being addressed by our special guest, Aliza Shatzman. She is the co-founder of The Legal Accountability Project, a new nonprofit whose mission is to ensure that as many law clerks as possible have positive clerkship experiences while extending support and resources to those who do...

Recording in front of a live audience at the 2022 Institute for Justice’s Law Student Conference, we look at some of the best, and some of the worst, from the Fourth Circuit. First, Justin Pearson explains why a restriction on “political” advertising on the side of buses was unconstitutional even though it recognized the side of a bus is not a “public forum.” Then, Michael Bindas gives us his best...

A couple headline-grabbing, government-thumping constitutional-heavyweight cases coming at you this week. First, Rob Johnson explains how he filed a brief on the importance of the right to a jury trial when he checked the news to find the Fifth Circuit had just said the same thing in a different case. He details why this is a big deal (and a good deal) and not the end-of-humanity some people have...

When is a case over? As you’ll learn, that depends on a lot of weird stuff. IJ attorney Will Aronin walks us through the Ninth Circuit’s recent decision on everybody’s favorite bedtime reading, Rule 68 and offers of judgment. Seriously, it’s an untapped resource of the federal courts with some counterintuitive traps for lawyers who don’t read the rules. Then Jeff Redf...

Short Circuit is proud to present to you Professor Marin Levy of Duke University School of Law. She is a top scholar on the federal judiciary, including its history, how it has evolved, and how it actually works. Plus, she’s educated the world about the federal (and state!) courts through the magic of Twitter threads. We talk to her about what’s so interesting about the federal courts (with some “...

A couple issues near-and-dear to many of your hearts this week: Money and Facebook. First, if you win a case against the government are you a “prevailing party” deserving of an attorneys fees award? North Carolina officials argued you’re not if you do so well that the law you’re challenging actually disappears. Luckily the Fourth Circuit shot that argument down. Alexa Gerva...

It’s a First Amendment fiesta at Short Circuit this week! Tori Clark explains how in the Eighth Circuit it’s hard to sue the government to protect your right to free speech when the law is privately enforced. And we’re not talking about Texas here, but people not acting so nice in Minnesota. Further down the trail, things went a little berserk in Oregon, and a pro se legislator w...

Suing the United States government is really hard. So hard that someone’s family might not get to even if the government is at fault for that person dying in a flood. Adam Shelton explains why that luckily might not be true in this case, but all too often is. Then Diana Simpson walks us through a procedural pretzel of property rights preventing people from putting up homes. She also discusse...

We focus in on two Latin words this week: habeas and mandamus. Both usually mean “you lose.” But things somehow turned out differently in the Fourth Circuit and Fifth Circuit. Hear the story of a man trapped in prison for a small drug sale for almost a decade who fights his way through the state and federal courts and wins himself a new trial. IJ’s Bob Belden tells that tale. And then there’s a st...

Short Circuit Live returns with an all-star all-D.C. Circuit panel! IJ attorney Anya Bidwell hosts a discussion with three Supreme Court lawyers (and former D.C. Circuit clerks), Lisa Blatt, Kelsi Brown Corkran, and Paul Clement. They reminisce about their days clerking for D.C. Circuit judges and analyze three recent circuit opinions on liability under terrorism laws, executive privilege, and no-...

Some property owners sued an arm of the State of Louisiana for damages and won a $10 million judgment. Wow, that's real money! Except, because the lawsuit was in state court they can't collect on it unless the legislature gives it to them. Which it doesn't want to do. So the money isn't so real after all. They then went to federal court, but the Fifth Circuit gave them some bad news. IJ's Jeff Red...

Michigan lawyer and YouTube legal sensation Steve Lehto joins us this week. We talk a bit about his career as a broadcaster, consumer protection lawyer, and host of an internet show with 300,000 subscribers. Then we get into some language he never got to “play on the radio.” All because a few police officers threw a man out of a $3 county fair for wearing a t-shirt with a famous saying of the grou...

Like owls? We've got owls. Two of them. But they don't like each other. Ben Field explains how the Ninth Circuit adjudicated with this Parliament of owls, and how a 12 gauge shotgun is involved. In addition, Evan Lisull tells a story of "chalking," the police, and the First Amendment. Both from another Ninth Circuit case, but also from his own brush with the law. Throw in some qualified immunity a...

As news followers over the last few years will know, grand jury records are super secret. But sometimes judges allow the word to get out, under certain narrow circumstances. Is one of them just that the records are old and historians find them interesting? Sorry, says the First Circuit, in the latest installment of a circuit split. Rob Frommer tells us all the history. Also, can the IRS get around...

Wanna get mad? This week we've got you covered. Two cases where the government plays by different rules from the rest of us. First Jaba Tsitsuashvili explains how the 11th Circuit went out of its way to excuse the Department of Justice's failure to raise a legal argument to do with a traffic stop search that private attorneys would not get away with. And Josh House tells us what the 8th Circuit th...

Following in the footsteps of last week's Super Bowl halftime show, we're keeping it West Coast today. Two cases from the Ninth Circuit that are Very Ninth Circuit. First, Bob McNamara explains how the overbreadth doctrine invalidated a restriction on speech related to violating immigration law. Then, Joe Gay describes the many ways the court found an Oakland, California ordinance to be just fine...

The Institute for Justice just issued a new report, 50 Shades of Government Immunity, about what happens when you go to state--not federal--court after the government violates your rights. The report grades every state for its access to justice as an alternative to the federal judiciary. Unfortunately, with just a couple exceptions, it doesn't paint a pretty picture. Two IJ attorneys, Anya Bidwell...

Divorce can be hard on the kids. Especially when the divorce was 40 years ago, the government doesn't believe it happened, and your U.S. citizenship depends on whether it did. New York litigator Alexandra Tseitlin joins Short Circuit to discuss an unusual immigration case she recently won in the Third Circuit. Also, ineffective assistance of counsel claims are difficult to win. But they're a bit e...

Sometimes when the government does bad things to you it violates the Constitution. And sometimes it just violates the contract. Jeff Rowes explains the difference, and how things went down with a development scheme in the Fifth Circuit. Also, Will Aronin brings his expertise he learned as a trial lawyer to examine some junk science that has now been put on trial. Plus he details why it would be ni...