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

Innovative orthodontics, cumulative explosions, and voting by proxy.

WEEK OF July 23, 2021

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Cat grabbers, too-tight handcuffs, and the non-corrupt arm of the law.

WEEK OF July 16, 2021

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Illegally-parked cars, electric-shock treatment, and highly-regulated massages.

WEEK OF July 9, 2021

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The Pledge of Allegiance, mandatory bar dues, and folk the police.

WEEK OF July 2, 2021

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Keeping an eye on Baltimore, taking a bite out of parking crime, and tasing a special-needs student.

WEEK OF June 25, 2021

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Courtroom broadcasts, choke holds for kids, and the checkered game of life.

WEEK OF June 18, 2021

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The First Amendment behind bars, illegal antiquities, and architecture as expression.

WEEK OF June 11, 2021

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A Social Security screw-up, prolonged detentions, and greasing the wheels of justice.

WEEK OF June 4, 2021

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Strolling through Boston Common, flying over Greenland, and driving in Independence.

WEEK OF May 28, 2021

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Good government, better government, and corporal punishment.

WEEK OF May 21, 2021

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Abusive border patrol agents, administrative closure, and a profitable jail.

WEEK OF May 14, 2021

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Drone advisories, wrong-door raids, and the Holy Spirit in the jury room.

WEEK OF May 7, 2021

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3D printed guns, elite schools, and a colossal screw-up.

WEEK OF April 30, 2021

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Political patronage, palpable anger, and a misbehaving confidential informant.

WEEK OF April 23, 2021

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Contretemps, surface-to-air missiles, and physical injuries.

WEEK OF April 16, 2021

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Accessible websites, remote voting, and 325 pages of opinions on the Indian Child Welfare Act.

WEEK OF April 9, 2021

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Collector’s coins, lucky stars, and a global nuisance.

WEEK OF April 2, 2021

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Threats to the community, lubricated desks, and SWAT donning and doffing.

WEEK OF March 26, 2021

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Foreign agents, football prayers, and a fraternity of judges.

WEEK OF March 19, 2021

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Bad Samaritans with Tasers, involuntary servitude, and rights without remedies.

WEEK OF March 12, 2021

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Waters of the United States, stolen gift cards, and Hester Prynne.

WEEK OF March 5, 2021

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Furtive offenses, cable bundling, and a Twitter pile-on.

WEEK OF February 26, 2021

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Wine deliveries, secular wedding celebrants, and Italian torture.

WEEK OF February 19, 2021

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Crooked judges, learned intermediaries, and laundering lawyers.

WEEK OF February 12, 2021

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Military leave, vicious campaigning, and a floral print foofaraw.

WEEK OF February 5, 2021

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Hurricane preparedness, getting rid of a body, and illegal sideshows.

WEEK OF January 29, 2021

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Municipal sewage, trafficking victims, and exculpatory evidence witheld.

WEEK OF January 22, 2021

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Safe injections, inhospitable barriers, and Derby pie.

WEEK OF January 15, 2021

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Aggregate expenditures, maximum allotments, and Moroccan rugs.

WEEK OF January 8, 2021

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Russian intelligence, Congressional injuries, and price transparency.

WEEK OF January 1, 2021

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Spam emails, scandalous retweets, and name-clearing hearings.

WEEK OF December 25, 2020

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Recording the police, union speech, and repulsive comments.

WEEK OF December 18, 2020

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Hard seltzer, full parmesan, and the Border Wall.

WEEK OF December 11, 2020

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Veterinary telemedicine, a red maple, and a Mile High clubbing.

WEEK OF December 4, 2020

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Stay away from Martin Van Buren.

WEEK OF November 27, 2020

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Federal executions, conversion therapy, and clean fuel.

WEEK OF November 20, 2020

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Church in COVID, the Golden Rule, and Dr. Penis

WEEK OF November 13, 2020

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CHECK FRAUD, ‘GOLF BALLS,’ AND ADA LAW

WEEK OF November 6, 2020

Newsletters

Zombie laws, dreaded doctrines, and the use vs. status distinction.

WEEK OF October 30, 2020

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Vote hauling, signature verification, and extended deadlines.

WEEK OF October 23, 2020

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Butterflies at the border, bullets in the back, banknotes for the blind, and Bontemps’ bulge.

WEEK OF October 16, 2020

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Tax returns, ballot deadlines, and Pocky cookies.

WEEK OF October 9, 2020

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The trial penalty, access to bail hearings, and mustard gas.

WEEK OF October 2, 2020

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Chokeholds, no-knock raids, and mass torts.

WEEK OF September 25, 2020

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Distractionary strikes, unreliable databases, and groping ordinary folks.

WEEK OF September 18, 2020

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Anti-Riots, bright youth, and a sick puppy.

WEEK OF August 28, 2020

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Moss piglets, Costco at Tiffany’s, and murder-for-hire.

WEEK OF August 21, 2020

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Cuban ballplayers, regulating Puerto Rico, and the male-only military draft.

WEEK OF August 14, 2020

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Government snipers, objector blackmail, and PACER fees.

WEEK OF August 7, 2020

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Apple permits, laser beams, and Nazis in Skokie.

WEEK OF July 31, 2020

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A transatlantic pie fight, a pecunious divorce, and a putrid pool of purple ink.

WEEK OF July 24, 2020

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Noxious odors, trained scientists, and aberrantly salacious products.

WEEK OF July 17, 2020

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Wild horses, ankle stomps, and covert tweets.

WEEK OF July 10, 2020

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Excessive radon, Armageddon, and a hopeless romantic.

WEEK OF July 3, 2020

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FIFA, vaping, and surprise tasing.

WEEK OF June 26, 2020

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A spectacular fossil, tree-shaped air fresheners, and protecting and serving the poop out of you.

WEEK OF June 19, 2020

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Horseshoeing school, tour guide licensing, and a lawsuit that will not go gentle into that good night.

WEEK OF June 12, 2020

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Common sense, various poems, and rogue, mooning journalists.

WEEK OF June 5, 2020

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Bad water, bad debt, and man, the police shoot a lot of people.

WEEK OF May 29, 2020

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Unpaid college athletes, cannabidiol gummies, and jailhouse informants.

WEEK OF May 22, 2020

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Botanical accuracy, puppycide, and accusations of impropriety.

WEEK OF May 15, 2020

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Beer innuendo, fishing in the mail, and the finality trap.

WEEK OF May 8, 2020

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One day too late, one good eye, and dead men tell no tales.

WEEK OF May 1, 2020

Newsletters

Spaceman, fake subpoenas, and the right to a basic minimum education.

WEEK OF April 24, 2020

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Hair microscopy, an economist breaks bad, and the non-prosecution of Jeffrey Epstein.

WEEK OF April 17, 2020

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Hydrofluorocarbons, indefinite detention, and tasteless sarcasm.

WEEK OF April 10, 2020

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Poppy seed chips, the Codfather, and secret lynching records.

WEEK OF April 3, 2020

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A cold prison, a suspicious suicide, and EPA advisory committees.

WEEK OF March 27, 2020

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Jaguar habitat, CIA black sites, and deadly insurance benefits.

WEEK OF March 20, 2020

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Flight paths, multitudinous grievances, and loitering plus.

WEEK OF March 13, 2020

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Threatening a ref, double jeopardy, and slave labor.

WEEK OF March 6, 2020

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Rails-to-trails, unfair competition, and nonactionable puffery.

WEEK OF February 28, 2020

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Graffiti destruction, vagrant ousting, and restored voting rights.

WEEK OF February 21, 2020

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Canine due process, feline endangerment, and civil contempt.

WEEK OF February 14, 2020

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Defenestration, foreign emoluments, and wage histories.

WEEK OF February 7, 2020

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Fly fishing, blackout periods, and discarded ballots.

WEEK OF January 31, 2020

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Fireburn, puppycide, and the DOJ beggars belief.

WEEK OF January 24, 2020

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An unvaccinated firefighter, HIV-positive airmen, and a racist lawyer.

WEEK OF January 17, 2020

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Confederate monuments, bird handling, and tied houses.

WEEK OF January 10, 2020

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Jail food, a rough ride, and shopping while black.

WEEK OF January 3, 2020

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A dirty cell, no no-smoking policy, and a classic case of Orwellian doublethink.

WEEK OF December 27, 2019

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Census undercounts, jury nullification, and a judicial change of heart.

WEEK OF December 20, 2019

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E-cigarettes, cyanide, and intergalactic trade monopolies.

WEEK OF December 13, 2019

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Homeless sweeps, flirty fun, and a DeLorean dustup.

WEEK OF December 6, 2019

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A pizza shop vandal, FOIA/RICO/1A, and the Case of the Polite Bank Robber.

WEEK OF November 29, 2019

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The Fight of the Century, Moloch worship, and a mountain of contempt sanctions.

WEEK OF November 22, 2019

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Football prayers, Peanut M&Ms, and illegal palmetto berry harvesting.

WEEK OF November 15, 2019

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Unfit grandparents, hours at the DMV, a Cheerleading Constitution.

WEEK OF November 8, 2019

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SWAT teams, filter teams, and the IRS’ asset forfeiture database.

WEEK OF November 1, 2019

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Open fields, tight handcuffs, and mass shootings.

WEEK OF October 25, 2019

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Golf swingers, a gangrenous finger, and the ancient concept of “frolic.”

WEEK OF October 18, 2019

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A spate of bad lawyering, a spate of congressional subpoenas, and finding love in prison.

WEEK OF October 11, 2019

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Net neutrality, malingering mailmen, and procrastinating plaintiffs

WEEK OF October 4, 2019

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Bad language, Batman, and bias responses.

WEEK OF September 27, 2019

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Waterfowl production, Officer Outlaw, and all-white juries.

WEEK OF September 20, 2019

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A patronized president, a campaign of emotional torture, and a utterly unqualified forensics expert.

WEEK OF September 13, 2019

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TSA screeners, background checks, and mandatory bar dues.

WEEK OF September 6, 2019

Newsletters

Counterfeit energy drinks, nunchucks that weren’t, and the dark web

WEEK OF August 30, 2019

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Crazy pills, a toy gun, and an anomalous elector.

WEEK OF August 23, 2019

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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

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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

Newsletters

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

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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

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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

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

WEEK OF February 1, 2019

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

WEEK OF January 25, 2019

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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

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

WEEK OF December 28, 2018

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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

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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

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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

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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

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

WEEK OF June 18, 2018

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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

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

WEEK OF May 21, 2018

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

WEEK OF May 14, 2018

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

WEEK OF May 7, 2018

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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

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

WEEK OF February 12, 2018

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

WEEK OF February 5, 2018

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“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

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

WEEK OF January 8, 2018