Short Circuit

Latest Episodes:

Short Circuit 189 | Supreme Court Preview, OT 2021 Sep 17, 2021

Show notes

For the fifth year in a row the Center for Judicial Engagement travels to the University of North Carolina School of Law to preview the upcoming Supreme Court term. Once again there’s trivia, deep dives on a couple cases about to be argued, and a couple cert petitions. Professor Andy Hessick battles IJ attorney Justin Pearson for top SCOTUS trivia dog and your host Anthony Sanders enjoys the first LIVE Short Circuit since the world shut down.

Cummings v. Premier Rehab Keller, PLLC, https://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/cummings-v-premier-rehab-keller-p-l-l-c/
City of Austin v. Reagan National Advertising of Texas, Inc., https://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/city-of-austin-texas-v-reagan-national-advertising-of-texas-inc/
Mohamud v. Weyker , https://ij.org/case/federal-police-immunity-cert-petitions/
Torres v. Texas Department of Public Safety, https://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/torres-v-texas-department-of-public-safety/
Andy Hessick, https://law.unc.edu/people/andrew-hessick/
Justin Pearson, https://ij.org/staff/justin-pearson/
Anthony Sanders, https://ij.org/staff/asanders/

iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/short-circuit/id309062019
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Newsletter: ij.org/about-us/shortcircuit/
Want to email us? shortcircuit@ij.org

Short Circuit 188 | Chalked Tires and the Other ACA Sep 02, 2021

Show notes

Ever rolled your tires to try and cover up the meter maid’s chalk mark? No, me neither . . . But even if you haven’t, you might not have to worry about tire chalk marks much longer. Josh Windham explains how the Sixth Circuit has said that’s an unreasonable search. And out West it turns out there’s so much law in Yellowstone National Park (the Wyoming bit, at least) that a camper gets out of an assault charge because of a law called the ACA (just not the one you’re thinking of). The camper didn’t commit the Perfect Crime, but Dan Alban talks about it while he’s in the district.

IJ’s Will of the People Conference, https://ij.org/event/does-the-will-of-the-people-actually-exist/
Taylor v. City of Saginaw, https://www.opn.ca6.uscourts.gov/opinions.pdf/21a0194p-06.pdf
United States v. Harris, https://www.ca10.uscourts.gov/sites/ca10/files/opinions/010110565817.pdf
Brian Kalt, The Perfect Crime, https://www.ca10.uscourts.gov/sites/ca10/files/opinions/010110565817.pdfthe p
C.J. Box, Free Fire, https://www.cjbox.net/free-fire
Dan Alban, https://ij.org/staff/dalban/
Josh Windham, https://ij.org/staff/joshua-windham/
Anthony Sanders, https://ij.org/staff/asanders/

Short Circuit 187 | How Binding Is Your Dicta? Aug 26, 2021

Show notes

The Third Circuit allowed a Second Amendment case challenging Robinson Township’s new zoning ordinance to proceed. Did they town change their zoning laws just to prevent a gun club from fulling opening? Possibly, we’ll have to wait and see. But in the meantime, Andrew Ward walks us through this decision exploring just which level of scrutiny applies to Second Amendment challenges. And there was a very colorful dissent in the Ninth Circuit from Judge VanDyke. Patrick Jaicomo explains this dissent and its problems with the Ninth Circuit’s binding dicta rule.

Drummond v. Robinson Township: https://www2.ca3.uscourts.gov/opinarch/201722p.pdf

Ford v. Peery: https://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2021/08/18/18-15498.pdf

IJ’s Conference on the Will of the People: https://ij.org/event/does-the-will-of-the-people-actually-exist/

Short Circuit 186 | Chillin’ With Uber Aug 12, 2021

Show notes

Usually a “chill” on your freedom of speech is the easiest constitutional injury to prove. But in the Tenth Circuit it seems if you speak too much you’re not “chilled,” and therefore not “injured,” even if you’re breaking an unconstitutional law. Adam Shelton walks us through this chilling brain teaser. Meanwhile, when is competition “unfair”? Alexa Gervasi explains that in Massachusetts it was not unfair for Uber to compete against taxicabs when its own right to operate was, shall we say, a grey area. Plus, some nostalgia for the halcyon days of 2013 when getting in a ridesharing car was something you didn’t tell your mother.

Transcript forthcoming.
IJ’s Conference on the Will of the People, https://ij.org/event/does-the-will-of-the-people-actually-exist/
Rio Grande Foundation v. City of Sante Fe, https://www.ca10.uscourts.gov/sites/ca10/files/opinions/010110556757.pdf
Anoush Cab, Inc. v. Uber Technologies, Inc., http://media.ca1.uscourts.gov/pdf.opinions/19-2001P-01A.pdf
Alexa Gervasi, https://ij.org/staff/alexa-gervasi/
Adam Shelton, https://ij.org/staff/adam-shelton/
Anthony Sanders, https://ij.org/staff/asanders/

Short Circuit 185 | Guns and Football Aug 05, 2021

Show notes

More on two of America’s favorite subjects this week. Josh House rejoins us as we analyze six separate opinions about one football coach. Josh last came on in the spring when the Ninth Circuit said the coach didn’t have a prayer. Although that ruling stands for now, a number of judges recently exercised their freedom to speak differently. And maybe it’s because of the name, but there’s a lot of Second Amendment law firing out of the Second Circuit. Adam Griffin explains how the court was on target in a case about individual versus collective rights.

Transcript: https://ij.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Short-Circuit-185_otter.ai-002-FINAL.pdf
Kennedy v. Bremerton School District, https://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2021/07/19/20-35222.pdf (en banc)
Kennedy v. Bremerton School District, https://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2021/03/18/20-35222.pdf (panel decision)
Henry v. County of Nassau, https://www.ca2.uscourts.gov/decisions/isysquery/bd83884e-0f7c-40bf-8012-74caac7b31d8/9/doc/20-1027_opn.pdf#xml=https://www.ca2.uscourts.gov/decisions/isysquery/bd83884e-0f7c-40bf-8012-74caac7b31d8/9/hilite/
Episode on the Right to “Bear” Arms, https://ij.org/sc_podcast/174/
Josh House, https://ij.org/staff/joshua-house/
Adam Griffin, https://ij.org/staff/adam-griffin/
Anthony Sanders, https://ij.org/staff/asanders/

Short Circuit 184 | California Constitutional Dreaming Jul 28, 2021

Show notes

On a special Short Circuit we look at the Constitution, and the constitutional history, of the Golden State. With two state constitutions and conventions in its history, and a multitude of ballot measures amending the state’s highest law, the story of the California Constitution is a turbulent, dynamic, and fascinating look at how constitutions get made in this country. Joining us are two experts who run the California Constitution Center at the University of California at Berkeley, Dr. David Carrillo and Stephen Duvernay. We also discuss how to research a state constitution, what resources are available online to both litigators and scholars, and how useful those materials might turn out to be.
Transcript: https://ij.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Short-Circuit-184_otter-FINAL.pdf
IJ’s Conference on the Will of the People, https://ij.org/event/does-the-will-of-the-people-actually-exist/
California Constitution, https://law.justia.com/constitution/california/
California Constitution Center, https://www.law.berkeley.edu/research/california-constitution-center/
David A. Carrillo, https://www.law.berkeley.edu/our-faculty/faculty-profiles/david-carrillo/
Stephen Duvernay, https://www.law.berkeley.edu/our-faculty/faculty-profiles/stephen-duvernay/
Anthony Sanders, https://ij.org/staff/asanders/

Short Circuit 183 | Expectations of Surveillance Jul 23, 2021

Show notes

The Supreme Court has said a “search” occurs when the police invade your “reasonable expectation of privacy.” So what is a “reasonable expectation” to be free from video surveillance in a world where everyone has a camera, everywhere? Rob Frommer tells us the Seventh Circuit says there basically is no such thing as long as what you’re doing can be seen from a public place (or in this case, three cameras mounted on a utility pole for 18 months). But the court isn’t happy with the result and utters a cry for help. Also, have you ever had to fill out forms that don’t make any sense? Ben Field joins the podcast to tell the tale of what forms you need to lose your U.S. Citizenship, and how it’s difficult to sign them from federal prison.

Transcript: https://ij.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Short-Circuit-183_otter.ai-FINAL.pdf
United States v. Tuggle, http://media.ca7.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/rssExec.pl?Submit=Display&Path=Y2021/D07-14/C:20-2352:J:Flaum:aut:T:fnOp:N:2733467:S:0
Farrell v. Blinken, https://www.cadc.uscourts.gov/internet/opinions.nsf/E73FAF5B041FF05685258711005181D8/$file/19-5357-1906101.pdf
Katz v. United States, https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/389/347
Vogon Bureaucracy (21:30), https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4syjrl
Rob Frommer, https://ij.org/staff/rfrommer/
Ben Field, https://ij.org/staff/ben-field/
Anthony Sanders, https://ij.org/staff/asanders/

Short Circuit 182 | Putting the Protection in “Equal Protection” Jul 15, 2021

Show notes

Today we think of the Equal Protection Clause as requiring equal treatment of the laws. But in addition to anything else it covers, at its core it’s supposed to protect, well, equal protection. Yet if you bring a claim that you’re not being protected equally the courts generally have little to offer. However, civil rights attorney Laura Schauer Ives just won an appeal at the Tenth Circuit in a tragic case where the court did take “protection” seriously, denying qualified immunity to police officers who failed to protect a woman from her stalking ex-partner. She joins us to discuss the victory and its wider impact. Also, what’s a “closely-regulated industry?” That term is often used to deny businesses some of their Fourth Amendment protections, and the Ninth Circuit recently ruled that massage parlors qualify. IJ’s Josh Windham joins us to analyze whether this is becoming an exception that swallows the rule, i.e. the rule that the government come back with a warrant.

Transcript forthcoming.
Dalton v. Reynolds, https://www.ca10.uscourts.gov/opinions/19/19-2047.pdf
Killgore v. City of South El Monte, https://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2021/07/08/20-55666.pdf
DeShaney v. Winnebago County, https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/489/189/#tab-opinion-1957769
New York v. Burger, https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/482/691/
Laura Schauer Ives, http://nmcivilrights.com/laura-schauer-ives/
Josh Windham, https://ij.org/staff/joshua-windham/
Anthony Sanders, https://ij.org/staff/asanders/

Short Circuit 181 | Mandatory Associations Jul 08, 2021

Show notes

It’s not often that we get three different appellate opinions on the same issue in one week. But recently the Fifth Circuit (twice) and the Tenth handed down their thoughts on mandatory bar associations and the First Amendment. Those are groups that lawyers in some states must join—and pay for—in order to work as licensed attorneys. The Supreme Court has said a lot of things over the years on whether these kinds of requirements are constitutional, overruling itself but also not overruling itself at the same time. What do you do with that confusing precedent if you’re a lower court federal judge? IJ attorney Rob Johnson joins us to walk through who now does—or does not?—have to join their state bar association, and how all of this may (quickly?) make its way back to the Supreme Court.

Transcript: https://ij.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Short-Circuit-181.pdf
Schell v. The Chief Justice, https://www.ca10.uscourts.gov/opinions/20/20-6044.pdf
McDonald v. Longley, https://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub/20/20-50448-CV0.pdf
Boudreaux v. Louisiana State Bar Assoc., https://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub/20/20-30086-CV0.pdf
Janus v. AFSCME, https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/17pdf/16-1466_2b3j.pdf
Keller v. State Bar of California, https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/496/1/
Rob Johnson, https://ij.org/staff/rjohnson/
Anthony Sanders, https://ij.org/staff/asanders/

Short Circuit 180 | A Fifth of Qualified Immunity Jul 02, 2021

Show notes

The Fifth Circuit is not boring. In just one week they served up enough qualified immunity cases to fill an entire episode, and then some. Nicolas Riley of Georgetown’s Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection joins us to discuss a case he litigated where the circuit failed to apply the Fourth Amendment to some rather un-Fourth Amendment friendly behavior by school officials. IJ’s Anya Bidwell then sends us in the other direction where the circuit denied qualified immunity to a pair of paramedics who refused to help a prisoner, and we discuss whether the Supreme Court’s recent tea leaves pushed it in that direction. Finally, we take apart an en banc denial where a majority of the circuit most definitely is not reading those tea leaves—although Judge Willet may be in the form of a telegraph message.

Transcript: https://ij.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/short-circuit-180.pdf
J.W. v. Paley, http://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/unpub/19/19-20429.0.pdf
Kelson v. Clark, http://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub/20/20-10764-CV0.pdf
Ramirez v. Guadarrama, https://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub/20/20-10055-CV0.pdf
Taylor v. Riojas, https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/20pdf/19-1261_bq7c.pdf
Nicolas Riley, https://www.law.georgetown.edu/icap/our-team/
Anya Bidwell, https://ij.org/staff/anya-bidwell/
Anthony Sanders, https://ij.org/staff/asanders/

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