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our legal history documentary podcast Bound By Oath, now in its third season, and our monthly roundtable podcast Unpublished Opinions.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.
Receive the Newsletter
Keep current on the federal circuit courts with a weekly email round-up in your inbox.
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 363 | The Licensing Racket

You probably know that all-too-many jobs require a license to work. But how is that license administered, who enforces its rules, and who makes the […]
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Unpublished Opinions 12 | Raise You a Texas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

Pole cameras, real estate RICO, and the Eighth Circuit island.
Of late, the Eleventh Circuit has been at the cutting-edge of excessive-fines litigation. And in a recent case—United States v. Schwarzbaum—the court got some important things right (e.g., that the Excessive Fines Clause does indeed…