Episodes

  • Short Circuit 374 | Content-Based Dancing

    Short Circuit 374 | Content-Based Dancing
    May 2 2025
    All kinds of constitutional goodies this week, from sovereign immunity to the First Amendment right to dance. But we begin with our annual Kentucky Derby preview from IJ’s Kentucky boy, Brian Morris. After that Brian keeps things local with a case from the Derby’s home circuit, the Sixth, which features another old favorite of the podcast, Ex parte Young. That precedent helps a pipeline company with some litigation against the governor of Michigan concerning an easement under the Straits of Mackinac (a name we proudly pronounce correctly). Then Evan Lisull, IJ’s legal writing guru, fresh from editing a round of recent briefing, gives some tips for writing at the Supreme Court. He also shares with us an Eleventh Circuit case concerning Jacksonville, Florida’s efforts to stymy the dancing opportunities of 18-20 year olds. The facts are very “Florida Man” (well, “Florida Young Women” technically) and although we give a brief and clinical description of the activities that Jacksonville is trying to ban, parents may want to hit pause if they have younger children listening. The larger issue we spend far more time addressing is whether content-based restrictions on speech related to zoning and unwanted “secondary effects” receive strict scrutiny or not. As a bonus, there’s even a fan-favorite: a Judge Newsom concurrence. We close with some reflections on a favorite of Evan’s during Derby week, Hunter S. Thompson’s 1970 essay on the circus surrounding the run for the roses. Enbridge Energy v. Whitmer Wacko’s Too v. Jacksonville Ex parte Young The Kentucky Derby Is Decadent & Depraved
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    52 mins
  • Short Circuit 373 | Live from Denver Law!

    Short Circuit 373 | Live from Denver Law!
    Apr 25 2025
    Short Circuit went mile high for a live show before the students at Sturm College of Law at the University of Denver. The focus was qualified immunity. That’s because Colorado led the way with qualified immunity reform a few years ago when its legislature adopted SB 20-217, which created a cause of action for suing state and local officials when they violate rights protected by the state constitution and also made sure that qualified immunity wouldn’t get in the way. Our panel were three local experts on the subject. First we heard from former Colorado State Senator John Cooke. Senator Cooke was involved in the passage of Colorado’s reform legislation while also working with law enforcement. He explains what was involved in those negotiations and what the reforms mean from the law enforcement side, something he knows about after having served as an officer and a sheriff for thirty years before entering the legislature. Then we hear from Andy McNulty, a Colorado civil rights lawyer. He was also involved in the passage of Colorado’s reforms and gives us his perspective from the civil rights litigation side. Then he describes a Tenth Circuit case he litigated about a woman who was brutally injured by a police officer. The court said her rights were indeed violated, but not in a way that overcame qualified immunity. Finally, we hear from Professor Laurent Sacharoff of Denver Law. He tells us of a recent Tenth Circuit case where a couple of officers got their dog to run into a house without first contacting the resident but after telling the dog to bite the first person it sees. Sig, the dog, then did what it was told and bit the resident—who was asleep in bed—and was allowed to hold on for a minute before the police commanded it to stop. The court found that this was so obviously wrong that it not only violated the Constitution but that the plaintiff overcame qualified immunity. The panel discusses why QI was defeated in one case and not the other and how this makes for unpredictability in legal practice. SB 20-217 Surat v. Klamser Luethje v. Kyle Tenth Circuit courtrooms
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    44 mins
  • Short Circuit 372 | VHS Privacy

    Short Circuit 372 | VHS Privacy
    Apr 18 2025
    An old friend returns to Short Circuit, but it’s not a guest. It’s a case, Villarreal v. City of Laredo, where police retaliated against a citizen journalist. We’ve talked about the matter a few times before, most recently last year when the Supreme Court was considering whether to take it. The thing is, the Court did take the case, reversed what the Fifth Circuit did on qualified immunity, and remanded for a do over based on IJ’s victory last year, Gonzalez v. Trevino. Which the Fifth Circuit now claims it has done, except it seems like nothing changed. IJ’s Kirby Thomas West analyzes the outcome and tries to make sense of the current state of play. After that Jacob Harcar of IJ take us down memory lane to when some of us used to rent these rectangular things called VHS cassettes. Because of worries about privacy—and in the wake of Judge Robert Bork’s confirmation hearings—Congress passed a law in the 1980s banning video stores from giving out lists of what movies people rented. Turns out, even though just about no one rents these things anymore, the statute still applies to rentals of movies online. Both the Sixth Circuit and the Seventh Circuit recently ruled on the scope of the law and came to opposite conclusions. Along the way, Jacob provides a dramatic reading of the original article about Bork’s video rentals. And stay tuned to the end for a segment of “Where Are They Now?” Villarreal v. City of Laredo Gardner v. Me-TV National Limited Partnership Salazar v. Paramount Global Short Circuit episode with JT Morris 1987 article on Judge Bork’s video rentals Short Circuit episode on Papa Johns’ website Nietzsche’s Eternal Recurrence
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    55 mins
  • Short Circuit 371 | Ten Years of Short Circuit

    Short Circuit 371 | Ten Years of Short Circuit
    Apr 11 2025
    Last week the Short Circuit staff celebrated ten years of our inexhaustive coverage of the federal courts of appeals. At the Studio Theatre in Washington, D.C. we welcomed about 150 of our closest friends to an evening of reminiscing about “how it all began” with John Ross, Robert McNamara, and Clark Neily plus a “showcase panel” discussing the future of the federal circuits with moderator Ben Field eliciting comment from retired judges Kent Jordan (Third Circuit) and Diane Wood (Seventh Circuit) plus Adam Liptak of the New York Times. Unfortunately for you, dear podcast listener, those acts of our performance were not recorded. But sandwiched between them we held a Short Circuit Live which, like all Short Circuit Lives, was recorded! Which is this week’s episode. Your host Anya Bidwell welcomes two returning guests to Short Circuit, Professor Eugene Volokh of the Hoover Institution at Stanford University and Raffi Melkonian, appellate attorney and partner at Wright Close and Barger in Houston, Texas, and, as many listeners will know, the Dean of what some still call #AppellateTwitter. Eugene begins the episode with a recent en banc ruling from the Ninth Circuit which upheld California’s ban on gun magazines with more than 10 rounds. He analyzes the majority’s reasoning but what the audience really enjoyed was his—and Raffi and Anya’s—thoughts about the video dissent by Judge Van Dyke, wherein the judge displayed a number of firearms and how they work. Then we move to Raffi for a few litigation tips from Lord of the Rings. We don’t do a lot of arbitration cases on Short Circuit but, wow, if you’re ever going to hear about one it’s got to be this. Four different arbitrators all heard one dispute, gave mutually inconsistent awards, and even sanctioned one and other. How does this story end? The Fifth Circuit hopes with one last arbitration to rule them all. If it doesn’t go to the Supreme Court first. Duncan v. Bonta Sullivan v. Feldman Judge Van Dyke’s video dissent
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    33 mins
  • Short Circuit 370 | Humans Only in the Copyright Office

    Short Circuit 370 | Humans Only in the Copyright Office
    Apr 4 2025
    Bad news for our AI listeners this week. The D.C. Circuit ruled that you cannot be the “author” of a copyrighted work. Only humans get that perk. Dan Knepper of IJ comes by to explain this latest victory in humanity’s war against the machines. Dan also lays out how the court actually kind of dodged some of the trickier issues when it comes to artificial intelligence and copyright law, but notes that those may be coming soon. IJ’s Dan Nelson (no relation) then steps up and takes us on a trek to Wyoming where some hunters engaged in “corner crossing” to get to public land, which an adjoining private landowner did not appreciate. The owner sued the hunters for nine million big ones because they briefly were in private airspace while jumping between parcels. Was that jumping OK? You’ll learn why the Tenth Circuit said it was, and also hear some history about why the West was turned into a checkerboard. Daniel Nelson and Patrick Jaicomo’s Section 1983 article Thaler v. Perlmutter Iron Bar Holdings v. Cape John Connor's speech
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    45 mins
  • Short Circuit 369 | Substantive Due Process, The Podcast

    Short Circuit 369 | Substantive Due Process, The Podcast
    Mar 28 2025
    Most weeks we summarize two, sometimes three, cases from the federal courts of appeals. This week we provide to you free of charge (as always) one, single, case. But, hang on, it has four opinions! It’s also 169 pages, which is way way more than our guests usually read for all an episode’s cases put together. We did, however, so you don't have to. The matter is about a Florida public school that didn’t abide by the wishes of a child’s parents when it comes to what pronouns to use for the child. Much more broadly, though, it’s about the ins-and-outs of how the due process clauses of the Constitution substantively protect rights. And how rights are protected is different not only based on whether the right is “fundamental” or not, but also whether the government is acting legislatively or executively. Our team goes through each opinion, details where the three Eleventh Circuit judges disagreed with each other, evaluates the litigation tactics, and points out where the judges—and the Supreme Court precedent they’re relying on—go astray. Littlejohn v. School Board of Leon County Sacramento v. Lewis Judge Newsom’s article on incorporation The One and Only Substantive Due Process Clause
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    48 mins
  • Short Circuit 368 | Flipping the Bird

    Short Circuit 368 | Flipping the Bird
    Mar 21 2025
    Is stretching out one’s middle finger at the police protected by the First Amendment? And whether it is or not, can the police trump up charges and assault someone who flips that bird? We dig into those deep constitutional issues with Jaba Tsitsuashvili of IJ when he discusses an Eighth Circuit case about a man stopped in Des Moines, Iowa. The police claim it was because he drove dangerously. The courts bought that—until the man got a hold of the video. It showed that the police may not have been entirely accurate, which led to his acquittal and the current civil rights lawsuit. Then we move to the Sixth Circuit and hear from IJ’s Robert Fellner about another retaliation case, this time involving Wayne County, Michigan. A man had his pension cut off in response to him criticizing the county’s policies. But he seems to have not actually qualified for the pension at that time anyway. What’s that mean for retaliation and the First Amendment? The court upheld a jury award for the man and he won on appeal. Our panel discuss how the issue can get complicated. Click here for transcript. Fugenschuh v. Minnehan Seals v. Wayne County Whren v. U.S.
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    40 mins
  • Short Circuit 367 | The Police Power

    Short Circuit 367 | The Police Power
    Mar 14 2025
    Often in old constitutional cases you see judges of yonder years invoking this mysterious substance called “the police power.” It’s something that has fallen out of a lot of our constitutional conversations, and unfortunately when it’s remembered today it’s often taken to mean “the government can do whatever it wants.” We take an episode to try and set things straight. Joining us is Professor Daniel B. Rodriguez of Northwestern, who has written a book to explain what the police power is, where it comes from, and why it—for better or for worse—allows our state and local governments to do a good many things, but not all things. The book is Good Governing: The Police Power in the American States. Dan points out that the police power, the states’ power to regulate for public health, safety, welfare (and perhaps morals), was traditionally not thought of as simply letting the government do whatever it wants minus constitutional rights. Instead, what the government did could exceed the police power without even getting to the question of rights. Over the years the police power has expanded in ways many of us can reasonably disagree about, Dan taking a more expansive view than many fans of IJ might. But whatever one’s thoughts on where the edges are, Dan persuasively argues we need to reassess where the police power has gone and where it’s going. On the podcast we particularly focus on zoning and occupational licensing as a couple areas needing rethinking, and cover much other ground. It you’ve ever wondered what’s the difference is between the police power and due process or where the states get their authority to regulate in the first place this is the wide-ranging episode—and book—for you. Click here for transcript. Good Governing (free download!) Good Governing (physical copy for purchase) Dan’s NYU Journal of Law & Liberty article
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    55 mins