Short Circuit

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Short Circuit 309 | O’Scannlain O’Rama Feb 01, 2024

Show notes

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 west but in the southeast where David details Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ efforts to suspend an elected prosecutor, Andrew Warren, and Warren’s resulting First Amendment lawsuit. In an opinion chock-a-block with facts the Eleventh Circuit rebuffed the suspension. David also highlights a Judge Newsom concurrence (something we’re getting quite used to on Short Circuit) and some interesting state-law issues. Then Dan turns the gas stove on to cook up a story of preemption and evolving standards of statutory interpretation. The City of Berkeley did a very Berkeley thing by trying to prevent new gas ranges, but the Ninth Circuit said federal law preempted that decision even though several judges thought maybe the law in this area isn’t all that up-to-date. Including Senior Judge O’Scannlain. Also, there’s a recommendation for where to get chicken next time you’re in Chicago.

Work at the Institute for Justice!

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Warren v. DeSantis

California Restaurant Assoc v. Berkeley

Original Jurisdiction

Short Circuit 308 | Burns Night Jan 25, 2024

Show notes

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 Brian Morris of IJ joins us for his own reading of some bits of real Burns poems and then whisks us off to the Fifth Circuit where Texas tried to force publishers to rate their books. This attempt at compelled speech receives a heavy dose of judicial engagement, maybe one that would bring a smile to Burn’s face. Then it’s up to the Seventh Circuit where a lawyer just didn’t understand when to go home after his client had settled the case. And after the lawyer had been kicked out of the case for misbehavior. We finally end with the most cited poem of Burns in American judicial opinions. It’s one some listeners will recognize. All-in-all, we hope this episode is one of our best-laid schemes.

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Book People v. Wong

Bailey v. Worthington Cylinder Corp.

Jackson Coca-Cola Bottling v. Chapman

Burns Supper Guide

To a Mouse, On Turning Her Up In Her Nest With the Plough

A Man’s a Man for a’ That

Green Grow the Rashes

Burns BBC Documentary

Short Circuit 307 | Working Both Sides of the Bench Jan 18, 2024

Show notes

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 and clean up her record? With a result the Fifth Circuit admits is unjust, but mandated by the Circuit’s precedent, it says she can’t. If she were still in prison, though, she could. Which is pretty nuts. But that’s not all this week. Keith Neely of IJ skates onto the podcast with a story of “Chanukah on Ice,” and why religious groups were prevented from advertising it and other religious messages on the sides of buses in Tampa, Florida. The Eleventh Circuit figures out what to do with this obviously unconstitutional policy while showcasing a double lutz of concurrences.

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Wilson v. Midland County

Young Israel of Tampa v. Hillsborough Area Regional Transit

Irons footnotes

Short Circuit 306 | Widespread Super Cheap Surveillance Jan 11, 2024

Show notes

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 database. Does the Fourth Amendment protect your medical records? We learn how the Ninth Circuit recently grappled with—or, rather, didn’t grapple with—that issue.

Apply to work at IJ here!

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Short Circuit 305 | Rare as Hen’s Teeth Jan 04, 2024

Show notes

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 addresses where we encounter a lying congressman, the Vicinage Clause, and our friends at the FBI.

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U.S. v. Perez

U.S. v. Fortenberry

Riley v. California

Blog post on an Illinois case and vicinage

Short Circuit 304 | The Writing on the Wall Dec 28, 2023

Show notes

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 change precedent for certain Voting Rights Act claims. Along the way it makes a claim about what “the law” is. But is it?

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Tynes v. Florida Dept of Juvenile Justice

Petteway v. Galveston County (panel decision)

Petteway v. Galveston County (en banc grant of stay)

Daniel 5:5-7

Short Circuit 303 | Larry McMurtry Fact Pattern Dec 20, 2023

Show notes

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 IJ’s Evan Lisull tells us the police can’t get a warrant to search someone’s home just because the guy who lives there is a shady character. Evan also explains what it’s like to live on a nine-acre lot in rural Iowa and how “city mice” might not understand.

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U.S. v. Ramos

U.S. v. Ralston

12 Days of Short Circuit Christmas

Short Circuit 302 | Deranged Prosecutor Dec 14, 2023

Show notes

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 like a good precedent when it is applied to less exceptional cases in the future. Then Patrick Jaicomo brings us to the Fourth Circuit where a woman tragically killed herself while in a jail—and while the jail’s staff knew she had already tried to. To get there, though, the court needed to clean up some of its caselaw and square it with what the Supreme Court has said.

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U.S. v. Trump

Short v. Hartman

IJ page for Taylor v. LeBlanc

Short Circuit 301 | Litigating the Multiverse Dec 07, 2023

Show notes

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 talk. Then Arif uses his language skills to take us into a tale of French heritage and . . . oil and gas. It’s a bit of a wild issue in the Fifth Circuit about extraction, property rights, and the interplay of ancient French doctrine and modern American statutes. Also, what’s really going on with the court’s certification to the Louisiana Supreme Court? It’s a Cajun conundrum.

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Parents Defending v. Linn Mar Community School Dist.

Johnson v. Chesapeake Louisiana, LP

Event on Mere Natural Law

Short Circuit episode on Fourth Circuit standing case

Short Circuit 300 | The Cause of Action Community Nov 30, 2023

Show notes

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 about not that much. Then IJ’s Dylan Moore joins us for the first time and details one of the latest attempts to keep former President Trump off the ballot. Someone running against Trump (who you’ve probably never heard of) apparently didn’t run enough. Or much at all. Plus it’s our 300th episode! But we’re saving the Spartans for later.

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Arkansas NAACP v. Arkansas Board of Apportionment

Castro v. Scanlan

Episode on courts creating causes of action

Episode 200 & Short Circuit’s origins