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PODCAST

Short Circuit

Institute for Justice

The Supreme Court decides a few dozen cases every year; federal appellate courts decide thousands. So if you love constitutional law, the circuit courts are where it’s at. Join us as we break down some of the week’s most intriguing appellate decisions with a unique brand of insight, wit, and passion for judicial engagement and the rule of law. http://ij.org/short-circuit

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All Episodes

53:34

Short Circuit 313 | Memo From a Robot

Short Circuit ·

2024/03/01

A special episode on artificial intelligence and the law, including how we find the law. Ed Walters, a pioneer in bringing AI to legal research, joins us to separate the artificial wheat from the chaff. He explains that a lot of the recent news about the failures of AI models have been due to using the wrong models for the wrong things, not the models themselves. He walks us through a near future when lawyers can use AI to not just find points of law but write memos or briefs. We’re also joined by

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48:40

Short Circuit 312 | The Power of FERC

Short Circuit ·

2024/02/22

An electric episode where we just might short the circuits. That’s because we dive into some capital “D” Drama at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Amid fighting and commissioner turnover related to renewable energy prices and an election, FERC makes a consequential decision without first going to the full board. And later the Sixth Circuit catches that hand in the judicial cookie jar. Dan Knepper of IJ drops by to explain some of the complexities of energy policy and how to remedy its

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54:01

Short Circuit 311 | SCOTUS Ladies

Short Circuit ·

2024/02/14

We’re joined by the SCOTUS Ladies, two “Supreme Court super fans.” They are Anastasia Boden and Elizabeth Slattery and they’re here to talk about their new blogging project but also to share their wider knowledge of the Constitution, public interest litigation, and even the federal courts of appeals. They each pick a case from the Fifth Circuit by Judge Willett, who you’ll learn is a very self-proclaimed “middle-management circuit judge.” First it’s the big question everyone is asking: Has the

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46:57

Short Circuit 310 | Opening the Vaults

Short Circuit ·

2024/02/09

The Ninth Circuit recently had some pretty harsh words for the FBI’s egregious behavior when the Bureau decided to crack open some vaults in Los Angeles. The FBI tried to forfeit all kinds of property held in these vaults from innocent owners. Rob Frommer of IJ tells us all about this IJ case and the Ninth Circuit’s indignation. Then it’s off to the Second Circuit for a different kind of police misconduct, but misconduct nevertheless. IJ’s Katrin Marquez details a police officer’s attempts to

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1:28:49

Unpublished Opinions 5 | Legal Fictions

Short Circuit ·

2024/02/05

It’s the latest episode of Unpublished Opinions, a Short Circuit podcast (but not actually Short Circuit). This is the podcast where Institute for Justice attorneys talk about the legal world beyond the federal courts of appeals. Diana Simpson and Josh Windham drop in to dialogue and diatribe about quite a few subjects you may—or may not—have your own opinions about. These include legal fictions, stare decisis, the vintage of the incorporation doctrine, and the Supreme Court’s recent opinion in

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59:04

Short Circuit 309 | O’Scannlain O’Rama

Short Circuit ·

2024/02/01

It’s a clerk reunion this week, at least for two former clerks of Judge Diarmuid O’Scannlain of the Ninth Circuit. We welcome back David Lat of Original Jurisdiction who is joined by Daniel Sullivan, a New York litigator at Holwell, Shuster & Goldberg. Both clerked for Judge O’Scannlain at one time, giving them keen insights into clerking on the Ninth and what it’s like to be a judge in a jurisdiction where your colleagues often take a different point of view. However, we start things off not out

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44:56

Short Circuit 308 | Burns Night

Short Circuit ·

2024/01/25

A more poetic Short Circuit this week. Coinciding with his birthday, January 25th, and with the phenomenon that it is these days, we pay homage to Scotland’s greatest poet, Robert Burns. What does this 18th century minstrel of haggis, lassies, and auld lang syne have to do with judicial engagement and the circuit courts of appeals? Well, if nothing else free spirited inquiry and the good cheer we try and support on the show. You’ll first hear what Burns might have thought of qualified immunity. Then

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40:56

Short Circuit 307 | Working Both Sides of the Bench

Short Circuit ·

2024/01/18

An “utterly bonkers” case this week. Jaba Tsitsuashvili, attorney at IJ and attorney for his client Erma Wilson, tells us about the Fifth Circuit’s recent ruling in her case. By day a prosecutor worked for the office that prosecuted her but then moonlighted with the judge in her case by night. That’s what we call in constitutional law “a problem.” But she only found out about this years later, long after she had served her time. Now that this double-dealing story has come to light can she go back

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43:09

Short Circuit 306 | Widespread Super Cheap Surveillance

Short Circuit ·

2024/01/11

If a defendant lies on the stand, and also hasn’t turned over records that would have helped answer the same question, is that discovery abuse? We dig into trial tactics with IJ’s Will Aronin in a civil rights case from the Fourth Circuit where a police officer defendant may not have been entirely truthful about how many times he had been sued. Then IJ’s Jeff Rowes gives the full Reno 911 about a man whose prescription drug mill was nabbed through a warrantless search of a massive government

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56:14

Short Circuit 305 | Rare as Hen’s Teeth

Short Circuit ·

2024/01/04

An old favorite on our first show of 2024, a search incident to arrest. Was it reasonable for the police to open a man’s backpack when he already lay handcuffed on the ground? Or should they have gotten a warrant first? IJ’s John Wrench analyzes this matter from the First Circuit where a case from the ‘70s about a bank robber suppresses a motion to suppress. Then IJ’s Betsy Sanz takes us out west to Los Angeles—but should it have been only as far as Nebraska? That’s the question the Ninth Circuit

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53:02

Short Circuit 304 | The Writing on the Wall

Short Circuit ·

2023/12/28

If you ask someone on the street what’s the deal with the standard in employment discrimination cases they’ll likely exclaim “McDonnell Douglas!” And they’d be right. Except, the Eleventh Circuit just reminded us that that’s not the whole story. And Judge Newsom adds in that it shouldn’t be the story at all. IJ’s Joe Gay explains the ins and out of this opinion that’s got the whole employment law world talking. Then your host tells a story from the Fifth Circuit as it heavily indicates it’s ready to

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42:33

Short Circuit 303 | Larry McMurtry Fact Pattern

Short Circuit ·

2023/12/20

Motions to suppress evidence of illegal firearms possession seem to be all the rage these days, or at least on this episode. IJ’s Christie Hebert starts things off in the Tenth Circuit where an altercation between former high school classmates (one of whom is a cop) leads to the discovery of an M-16 in the back of a tow truck. Was that a Fourth Amendment violation or a permissible inventory search? The court thinks the former and suppresses the evidence. The same is true in the Eighth Circuit, where

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1:04:25

Unpublished Opinions 4 | Juicy Stuff

Short Circuit ·

2023/12/15

Quite a bit to talk about today on Unpublished Opinions, the podcast where Institute for Justice attorneys muse on legal things other than the federal courts of appeals. Diana Simpson and Sam Gedge come on to give their takes on a whole list of topics: Supreme Court leaks, AI-writing briefs and plagiarism, sua sponte judges, footnotes, and not italicizing the “v” in a casename. It’s all there. It’s all Unpublished.Supreme Court Style Guide NTY piece relying on leaks Essay on substantive

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47:21

Short Circuit 302 | Deranged Prosecutor

Short Circuit ·

2023/12/14

Two holiday delights this week: The right of a former president to say “Deranged prosecutor Jack Smith” and the proper standard when officials recklessly fail to keep a suicide watch. First it’s Paul Sherman with the D.C. Circuit’s analysis of how former President Trump’s speech can be curtailed while he’s being prosecuted in Washington, D.C. The First Amendment interest is high, but is it high enough? Even though the court applies strict scrutiny the answer is mostly no. Paul explains how it seems

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59:33

Short Circuit 301 | Litigating the Multiverse

Short Circuit ·

2023/12/07

We’re joined by Braden Boucek, Director of Litigation at the Southeastern Legal Foundation, and IJ’s Arif Panju. Braden takes us to the Eighth Circuit where the court dismisses some claims as moot in a challenge to a school district’s transgender policy. But it finds the rest of the case live—and the policy vague. Braden makes the point that some other judges have seemed to think lawsuits are either not ripe or moot, but never actually justiciable. Along the way there’s some unenumerated rights

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Short Circuit 300 | The Cause of Action Community

Short Circuit ·

2023/11/30

It’s all about rights and voting this week. With a cause of action twist. We dig into the right to sue to enforce voting rights and the right to sue to keep others from voting for someone else. Confused? It seems so are the courts. First, Anya Bidwell breaks from SCOTUS prep to lay out what the Eighth Circuit said about Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. She explains why courts are so stingy about suing to enforce rights these days but also why this particular question might be much ado

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58:52

Short Circuit 299 | The Gambler

Short Circuit ·

2023/11/22

Short Circuit 299 | The Gambler We’re joined by Mike Greenberg of IJ, who flies in via drone. Or, rather, two drone cases. First Mike tells us of his recent argument at the Michigan Supreme Court in a Fourth Amendment matter that we first talked about on Short Circuit way back on Episode 167. Then he relates a recent Fifth Circuit ruling about a Texas law allegedly protecting Texans’ privacy. Maybe it does, maybe it does, but the our panel isn’t entirely impressed with how the Fifth Circuit's

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49:28

Short Circuit 298 | Everything Causes Cancer

Short Circuit ·

2023/11/16

You ever notice those warning labels saying the State of California has carcinogenic concerns about whatever the product is you are buying? Ever also notice that those labels seem to be on a lot of products? Well, you’re not the only one. It seems the state has been saying it “knows” things cause cancer when pretty much no one else does. This week IJ’s Ben Field tells us all about a Ninth Circuit case where the state’s over-inclusiveness ran into the First Amendment. Then it’s off to Texas where its

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40:34

Short Circuit 297 | Working in a Coal Mine with TikTok

Short Circuit ·

2023/11/09

It’s the old and the new economy this week. First, IJ’s Dan Alban grabs his shovel and hardhat and heads deep down into the tunnels of administrative law to dig out a preamble that made a difference. In fact, it turns out preambles often make a difference in admin law cases, including those involving benefits for black lung disease. The Sixth Circuit seems kind of uncomfortable with this, as does our panel. Then we open up the TikTok app. The company wasn’t happy to be in federal court in Texas and

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46:04

Unpublished Opinions 3 | Postpositive Adjectives

Short Circuit ·

2023/11/06

It’s another edition of the podcast where we talk about things other than the federal courts of appeals. Patrick Jaicomo and Sam Gedge clamber in to pick apart the recent trend of calling Attorney Generals and Solicitor Generals “generals.” It’s a pretty new phenomenon, it turns out. But is it wrong? We sort through the pros and cons. There’s also discussion of judicial robes and ex-officials clinging to their titles. Then we move to history. Sure, everyone loves history, and the Supreme Court is

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401 results

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