What is Short Circuit?
Short Circuit is your concise (and sometimes irreverent) source for important and interesting cases and legal stories you might otherwise have missed.
Launched by the Institute for Justice (IJ) in 2015, Short Circuit started off as a short weekly newsletter rounding up the most interesting developments in the federal circuit courts of appeal as well as a weekly podcast digging into a couple recent particularly noteworthy cases.
Today, as part of IJ’s Center for Judicial Engagement, and with the newsletter and flagship podcast still going strong, Short Circuit also includes our legal history documentary podcast Bound By Oath, now in its third season, and our monthly roundtable podcast Unpublished Opinions. We also hold live shows (contact us if you’re interested in hosting one) and other events. Wherever and whoever you are there’s plenty of options to get engaged.
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Bound By Oath
Everything You Eat, Drink, and Wear | Season 3, Ep. 11

Government officials must obtain a warrant before forcibly entering a home (absent consent or an emergency). That rule goes back to the Founding. But in […]
Listen NowShort Circuit
Short Circuit 367 | The Police Power

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 […]
Listen NowUnpublished Opinions
Unpublished Opinions 12 | Raise You a Texas

John Wrench of IJ returns as your host for some courthouse conversations with his colleagues Diana Simpson and Josh Windham. They spill out their opinions […]
Listen NowRecent Newsletters

Intellectual strait jackets, vulgar language, and dodging judicial inquiry.
Friends, come join us at the Studio Theatre in Washington, D.C. on Thursday, April 3 to celebrate ten years of Short Circuit. It’s going to be super swell, and some important people will be there.