Short Circuit Newsletter

WHAT IS THE SHORT CIRCUIT NEWSLETTER?

The Supreme Court decides a few dozen cases every year; federal appellate courts decide thousands. We read them so you don’t have to, and give you concise (and fun-to-read) summaries of the most intriguing decisions.

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Newsletters

A fake university, safe and sanitary conditions, and old school equal protection.

WEEK OF August 16, 2019

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Cookies and crème.

WEEK OF August 9, 2019

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Full-body banana costumes, in-state grapes, and apple pie.

WEEK OF August 2, 2019

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SWAT raids, safe spaces, and a Mumbai mobster.

WEEK OF July 26, 2019

Newsletters

Electromagnetic hypersensitivity, habitual drunkards, and garden-variety tyranny.

WEEK OF July 19, 2019

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Juvenile mug shots, privacy for reality show stars, and aggressing a police car.

WEEK OF July 12, 2019

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Bikini baristas, cell phone radiation, and an onslaught of horribles.

WEEK OF July 5, 2019

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Citations to nowhere, satanic cardigans, and untested rape kits.

WEEK OF June 28, 2019

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Spy networks, cyberattacks, and the price we pay for civilization.

WEEK OF June 21, 2019

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Prison brunch, gaslighting, and nonconsensual neonatal blood samples.

WEEK OF June 14, 2019

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Gluten sensitivity, rectal probes, and troubling electrical towers.

WEEK OF June 7, 2019

Newsletters

Where is the treasure? Where are the assets? Where’s the loot?

WEEK OF May 31, 2019

Newsletters

Litigation financing, campaign financing, and salmagundi.

WEEK OF May 24, 2019

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Drug traffickers’ idol, a voice from the grave, and all decent people.

WEEK OF May 17, 2019

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Invading agricultural land, re-plowing the CFPB’s structure, and solitary confinement.

WEEK OF May 10, 2019

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The Punisher, compelled self-incrimination, and a unicorn amongst unicorns.

WEEK OF May 3, 2019

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Tire chalking, evidence tampering, and robocalls.

WEEK OF April 26, 2019

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Halfway originalism, frustrated immigration enforcement, and sit down or be put down.

WEEK OF April 19, 2019

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Cherry regulation, landfill corruption, and taking some air.

WEEK OF April 12, 2019

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Inmate sterilization, a rodent infestation, and the return of dueling dinos.

WEEK OF April 5, 2019

Newsletters

It wasn’t about what was fair, it wasn’t about what was honest, it was about winning.

WEEK OF March 29, 2019

Newsletters

Military secrets, therapeutic insoles, and (allegedly) thieving police.

WEEK OF March 22, 2019

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A police schism, a profanity-laced raid, and Mustangs over Berlin.

WEEK OF March 15, 2019

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Salt storage, unspeedy trials, and cop-on-cop crime.

WEEK OF March 8, 2019

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Waste and distraction, unclean hands, and defamation on Twitter.

WEEK OF March 1, 2019

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Robin Hood, affordable housing cronyism, and a free nipple split.

WEEK OF February 22, 2019

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Zestimates, Big Girl Panties, and Scabby the Rat

WEEK OF February 15, 2019

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Hypnosis, fungal spores, and a Bernie independent.

WEEK OF February 8, 2019

Newsletters

Inoperable fuzes, sweetened sugar beverages, and sexed cow semen.

WEEK OF February 1, 2019

Newsletters

Deadlocked juries, shooting at truckers, and the Adventure of the Seas.

WEEK OF January 25, 2019

Newsletters

Desperate circumstances, deceptive edits, and the rule of orderliness.

WEEK OF January 18, 2019

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Sovereign immunity, absolute immunity, qualified immunity, and the agora of the digital age.

WEEK OF January 11, 2019

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A blind websurfer, an accidental No Fly List designation, and a threat-inducing photocopy.

WEEK OF January 4, 2019

Newsletters

Tonal tightropes, regulatory time bombs, and a Southern soul music rivalry.

WEEK OF December 28, 2018

Newsletters

Almond milk, pee tests, and the Lorax doctrine.

WEEK OF December 21, 2018

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A misleading film, a misleading statistic, and misleading crackers.

WEEK OF December 14, 2018

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Body slams, reasonable retaliation, and Russian software.

WEEK OF December 7, 2018

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Bridge malefactors, mandatory blank reports, and a leaky judge.

WEEK OF November 30, 2018

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Covered cheeks, cheeky hyphens, and uncovered booking photos.

WEEK OF November 23, 2018

Newsletters

Civil disgorgement, mild chastisement, and a Third Amendment.

WEEK OF November 16, 2018

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Dinosaur mortal combat, the hose treatment, and the great high school impostor.

WEEK OF November 9, 2018

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A barbaric sentence, unpurged voters, and a porcine gag order.

WEEK OF November 2, 2018

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Weeds, word counts, and would-be blood donors.

WEEK OF October 26, 2018

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Root canals, contraband dogs, and a marijuana petition.

WEEK OF October 15, 2018

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Public defender shortfalls, warrantless rental inspections, and juveniles in solitary confinement.

WEEK OF October 12, 2018

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Butter grades, toxic coal ash, and Stairway to Heaven.

WEEK OF October 1, 2018

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Interviewing prisoners, unionizing charter schools, and Rand Paul’s neighbor.

WEEK OF September 24, 2018

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Sacred pachyderms, boating while Latino, police misconduct insurance, & more

WEEK OF September 17, 2018

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Tasing a pregnant woman, tasing a man in diabetic shock, a faithless elector feels the Bern, & more

WEEK OF September 10, 2018

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Studebaker cars, Satanic standing, a “legit baller,” breaking into prison, & more

WEEK OF September 3, 2018

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Hawks v. eagles, drop drippers, solitary confinement, & more

WEEK OF August 27, 2018

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Feeding the homeless, drawing the Prophet Muhammed, Kim Kardashian, & more

WEEK OF August 20, 2018

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Rumpelstiltskin, MacGyver, a whole bunch of attorneys behaving badly, & more

WEEK OF August 13, 2018

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The rusty patched bumblebee, microstamping cartridges, officers who don’t turn on their recording equipment, & more

WEEK OF August 6, 2018

Newsletters

Grenades, machine guns, 3D printed guns, a tranquilizer gun, machetes, duct tape, a long blonde wig, & more

WEEK OF July 30, 2018

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Nuns against pipelines, don’t make eye contact with cops, self-defecation, & more

WEEK OF July 23, 2018

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Caligula, Ryan Gosling, the Miracle on Ice, & more

WEEK OF July 16, 2018

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Queen Anne’s Revenge, Cindy Lou Who, a pile of deference, & more

WEEK OF July 9, 2018

Newsletters

Inappropriate commentary from the bench, objector blackmail, John Doe summonses, & more

WEEK OF July 2, 2018

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A surfeit of text messages, a glut of voicemails, a mass strip search of choir girls, & more

WEEK OF June 25, 2018

Newsletters

Mo money mo problems, open-air burn pits, the case of the missing tattoos, & more

WEEK OF June 18, 2018

Newsletters

Dangerous tennis shoes, a magnificent distillery, bad advice from the IRS, & more

WEEK OF June 11, 2018

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Dangerous pavement, defamation insurance, child labor, a virulently racist attorney, & more

WEEK OF June 4, 2018

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Mind Your Business vs. In God We Trust, cell extractions, teeth extractions, & more

WEEK OF May 28, 2018

Newsletters

Table grapes, invasive cavity searches, comprehensive phone searches, acute jail conditions, & more

WEEK OF May 21, 2018

Newsletters

Trespassing on a private beach, meet and greets, La-la-land, Ron Paul, & more

WEEK OF May 14, 2018

Newsletters

The lost keepsakes of Simón Bolívar, border searches, violent career offenders, & more

WEEK OF May 7, 2018

Newsletters

Pet food puffery, suspiciously loud laughter, the school of hard knocks, & more

WEEK OF April 30, 2018

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Grilling in the yard, radioactive waste in the yard, police drive onto the wrong yard, & more

WEEK OF April 23, 2018

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Fishing for a lighter, standing on the porch, the right to loaf about, & more

WEEK OF April 16, 2018

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Lemurs, scoundrels, a petulant pedestrian, & more

WEEK OF April 9, 2018

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“Scary” bikers, an anticipatory warrant, a ban on Matisse, & more

WEEK OF April 2, 2018

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West Nile encephalitis, nunchuks, a detainee’s blackened foot, & more

WEEK OF March 26, 2018

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Hacky sacks aka “footbags,” policing for profit a Christmas Spectacular, & more

WEEK OF March 19, 2018

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Iced coffee, sanctuary cities, the fiduciary rule, & more

WEEK OF March 12, 2018

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Fighter jets, horse soring, climate stewardship, & more

WEEK OF March 5, 2018

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Decency on the internet, scraping content, throttling data, & more

WEEK OF February 19, 2018

Newsletters

Handcuffing a 10-year-old, wealth-based pretrial detention, violent retribution for political participation, & more

WEEK OF February 12, 2018

Newsletters

A post-SWAT-raid code inspection, an eggregrious price fixing scheme, a tear gas accident, & more

WEEK OF February 5, 2018

Newsletters

“Sugar-based” prison diet, hot cells, effluent injections, illegal downloading, & more

WEEK OF January 29, 2018

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$5 in cologne, $1 million in wine, $50 owed a prison inmate, & more

WEEK OF January 22, 2018

Newsletters

Inappropriate dolphin sex, killing economic liberty, killing killer owls, & more

WEEK OF January 8, 2018