March 23, 2023

Short Circuit 264 | Evicting Innocent People

Can a city get a renter evicted for a crime they didn’t commit? Unfortunately, in cities across the country the answer is yes. On a […]

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March 14, 2023

Short Circuit 263 | A Three Hour Tour

A nostalgic tale of judicial engagement where we examine whether recess is a crime and whether it’s fine for the government to follow your every […]

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March 08, 2023

Short Circuit 262 | Shielded

A special Short Circuit Live at Georgetown University hosts Joanna Schwartz of UCLA to discuss her book Shielded: How the Police Became Untouchable. And not […]

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March 02, 2023

Short Circuit 261 | Live at Southern Methodist University!

Short Circuit speaks with the law students at SMU in our first visit to The Big D. With Anya Bidwell as your host, she introduces […]

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February 23, 2023

Short Circuit 260 | Unlimited Tariff Power

For the first time Short Circuit welcomes the Jones-Act-hating, free-trade-loving, tariff-busting, T-shirt-writing, and top-5-ranking Scott Lincicome of the Cato Institute. Scott introduces us to a […]

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February 16, 2023

Short Circuit 259 | The Rent Is Too Damn High

A qualified immunity and property rights pairing this week. But first we announce the winning answer from last episode’s “decretal language” competition. Then, Patrick Jaicomo […]

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February 10, 2023

Short Circuit 258 | And in en banc news

Our newsletter begins announcements about federal en banc decisions with the phrase “And in en banc news.” And about a year ago we had an […]

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February 02, 2023

Short Circuit 257 | General Google Warrants

On this Groundhog Day special we’re sniffing out a couple eternally recurrent subjects: limits on government surveillance and limits on property rights. We’re joined by […]

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January 26, 2023

Short Circuit 256 | A Magical Bag of Dope

Could you identify a “bag of dope” through a tinted car window? A police officer in Euclid, Ohio thought he could, but it turns out […]

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January 19, 2023

Short Circuit 255 | Basic Training

We are joined by Texas “teenylaw” lawyer Kristen Vander-Plas LaFreniere. We talk about what it’s like to run a very small practice and then dig […]

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January 13, 2023

Short Circuit 254 | Civil Rights Roundup

In honor of the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. we invited on three civil rights lawyers to talk about their latest, pathbreaking, cases and […]

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January 05, 2023

Short Circuit 253 | Imaginary Lines

Two tales of the criminal justice system this week, with the Excessive Fines Clause and the Fourth Amendment both playing a part. First, in the […]

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December 29, 2022

Short Circuit 252 | 13th Amendment at SCOTUS

Not many lawyers alive today can say they’ve litigated a Thirteenth Amendment case (yes, that amendment; the one about slavery). But we at IJ have […]

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December 22, 2022

Short Circuit 251 | You Got Insurance?

You got insurance is not just a question they ask at the doctor’s office. Most of the time when someone sues the government—especially a local […]

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December 21, 2022

12 Days of Short Circuit Christmas

A very short episode for the Holidays. Sung by members of the Institute for Justice. Click to listen, but here are the words: On the […]

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December 16, 2022

Short Circuit 250 | Thanksgiving for the Arrest

One of our oldest friends (well, not really a “friend”) is back, the rational basis test. Turns out the government can justify refusing to give […]

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December 08, 2022

Short Circuit 249 | Licensed to Work

For millions of lower-income Americans, state licensing laws make finding work or opening a small business harder and more expensive—if not outright impossible. So claims […]

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December 02, 2022

Short Circuit 248 | “I Declare Bankruptcy”

Money makes the world go round. And sometimes the Constitution and our civil rights laws help money out with that. We examine a couple recent […]

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November 23, 2022

Short Circuit 247 | Off to the Races

Just in time for Thanksgiving we have two extremely juicy opinions (from a judicial engagement standpoint), one about the right to earn a living and […]

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November 18, 2022

Short Circuit 246 | The Unholy Trinity

We’re joined by two friends from the MacArthur Justice Center, Emily Washington and Eric Foley, to tell us all about a blood-boiling case of prosecutorial […]

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November 07, 2022

Short Circuit 245 | A Texas-Sized “And”

Everything’s big in Texas. Including that famous English conjunction “and.” For the first time on Short Circuit we have two IJ attorneys based in the […]

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November 02, 2022

Short Circuit 244 | Election Special 2022

When Americans vote it usually means one other thing. Americans suing. And this year is no different. Diana Simpson of IJ joins us, as she […]

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October 28, 2022

Short Circuit 243 | Live From New York It’s Short Circuit!

We recorded an episode live before an audience in New York City! NYC is home to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second […]

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October 20, 2022

Short Circuit 242 | CON Law at SCOTUS

The Institute for Justice has asked the Supreme Court to take a case challenging Kentucky’s Certificate of Need law (aka a “CON law”—very much a […]

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October 13, 2022

Short Circuit 241 | Pretext for a Traffic Stop

The Supreme Court has said that once the police find a reason to pull you over, they can pull you over—even if that’s not at […]

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October 07, 2022

Short Circuit 240 | Live at Columbia Law!

Enjoy some intra-Ivy League ribbing with two Yale grads talking law and clerkships from deep inside New York’s oldest university. Short Circuit welcomes David Lat […]

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September 29, 2022

Short Circuit 239 | SCOTUS Preview Live from UNC

What’s new in OT22? Quite a bit, it turns out. This is our sixth annual Short Circuit Live Supreme Court Preview from the University of […]

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September 22, 2022

Short Circuit 238 | Dude, Where’s My Passport?

If a doctor says a prisoner needs to take his medication, and you’re a prison guard, you should give the prisoner his medication. A number […]

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September 16, 2022

Short Circuit 237 | Live at the University of Montana

It’s the first Big Sky Short Circuit! Recorded in front of students at the University of Montana School of Law, we examine three cases from […]

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September 08, 2022

Short Circuit 236 | Constitutions and Common Law

When you sue the government for violating your rights do you first need the government’s permission? Unfortunately, the answer is usually “yes.” We look at […]

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