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

Liquor Licenses, Kosher Cheesecake, and Forgotten Firearms.

WEEK OF October 15, 2021

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Private detention facilities, controversial speakers, and threatening troop movements.

WEEK OF October 8, 2021

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Hexavalent chromium, rebel flags, and the long night at Camp Blood.

WEEK OF October 1, 2021

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Skid Row, family visits, and an absence of tattoos.

WEEK OF September 24, 2021

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Dairy farm defamation, foreign speech, and a path of blood.

WEEK OF September 17, 2021

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Adult diapers, scalding hot showers, and a deadly joyride.

WEEK OF September 10, 2021

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Overusing a park, prefering a paramour, and taking a knee.

WEEK OF September 3, 2021

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Capital punishment, Confederate statues, and common law

WEEK OF August 28, 2021

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Ketamine experiments, latex clubs, and paid Russian propaganda.

WEEK OF August 20, 2021

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No pants in school, no women’s ice hockey in school, and racial quotas in schools.

WEEK OF August 13, 2021

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Topless sunbathing, daily prayer, and vaccine mandates.

WEEK OF August 6, 2021

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Web design, pork production, and the Second Amendment at the Second Circuit.

WEEK OF July 30, 2021

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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