Short Circuit

It’s the first Big Sky Short Circuit! Recorded in front of students at the University of Montana School of Law, we examine three cases from the Montana Supreme Court (or heading quickly toward it) from three eminent Montana attorneys. There’s cases on government immunity, racial balance on juries, and voting rights, intersecting with state law and the Montana Constitution. We also explore practici...

When you sue the government for violating your rights do you first need the government’s permission? Unfortunately, the answer is usually “yes.” We look at a pair of recent cases that go in different directions on the issue, and this leads us to some pretty “deep thoughts” about where law comes from and what roles courts and legislatures have in finding remedies to address constitutional violation...

We all know that guests, like fish, begin to smell after three days, But what about short-term rental ordinances? We look at a pair of regulations from New Orleans and Jersey City. One the Constitution bids farewell to, but the other still stinks. Ari Bargil explains how the Fifth Circuit found the New Orleans scheme lacking under the dormant Commerce Clause. However, Erica Smith Ewing—after expla...

Do you know your Indian Law from your Tribal Law? If not, Minnesota appellate attorney Scott Flaherty joins us to discuss a recent Seventh Circuit case where a Wisconsin band of the Ojibwe vindicated their treaty rights. Indian law is notoriously complicated with a lot of unsettling history, but Scott helpfully walks us through this latest chapter. Also, pursuing his white whale of Younger abstent...

Property rights leads the way this week, with a little bit of intervention thrown in. Paul Avelar of IJ joins us to present a Sixth Circuit case where the owners committed the crime of landscaping their lawn without permission. He also discusses some recent goings on in the city of Nashville, Tennessee to do with home based businesses and code enforcement, including a recent ruling of the Tennesse...

We welcome Nolan Gray on this week, author of the new book Arbitrary Lines: How Zoning Broke the American City and How to Fix It . Nolan is a city planner, scholar, and writer on all things urban. And he has it out for “zoning,” that method city planners love so much where they separate land uses from each other and end up controlling the finest details of what people get up to on their own proper...

A couple cases this week where federal courts, at least in part, paid attention to the right things. Joined by the leaders of IJ’s Project on Immunity and Accountability, Anya Bidwell and Patrick Jaicomo, we dig into a couple recent denials of qualified immunity. Patrick discusses a case from the Fifth Circuit where a sheriff’s deputy committed some extremely heinous acts while on a “welfare check...

Georgia criminal defense attorney Andrew Fleischman joins us to talk about a unicorn. Yes, the Eleventh Circuit recently found a state prosecutor was not absolutely immune from a civil rights lawsuit, where a witness was arrested for not testifying . . . after he actually showed up to testify. This kind of case is extremely rare, and Andrew discusses how rare, and what its effect might be in a pla...

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...