t's a First Amendment fiesta at Short Circuit this week! Tori Clark explains how in the Eighth Circuit it's hard to sue the government to protect your right to free speech when the law is privately enforced. And we're not talking about Texas here, but people not acting so nice in Minnesota. Further down the trail, things went a little berserk in Oregon, and a pro se legislator won himself another day in court in the Ninth Circuit. Sam Gedge has hunted through the briefs.

Suing the United States government is really hard. So hard that someone's family might not get to even if the government is at fault for that person dying in a flood. Adam Shelton explains why that luckily might not be true in this case, but all too often is. Then Diana Simpson walks us through a procedural pretzel of property rights preventing people from putting up homes. She also discusses some old cases you might not know about, but really should.

We focus in on two Latin words this week: habeas and mandamus. Both usually mean “you lose.” But things somehow turned out differently in the Fourth Circuit and Fifth Circuit. Hear the story of a man trapped in prison for a small drug sale for almost a decade who fights his way through the state and federal courts and wins himself a new trial. IJ’s Bob Belden tells that tale. And then there’s a story about guns, the Internet, speech, the differences between Texas and New Jersey, and transfer orders. Alexa Gervasi gets us up to speed on that saga. She also previews a new IJ case about a prosecutor working for a judge he practiced before. It’s as bad as it sounds.

Short Circuit Live returns with an all-star all-D.C. Circuit panel! IJ attorney Anya Bidwell hosts a discussion with three Supreme Court lawyers (and former D.C. Circuit clerks), Lisa Blatt, Kelsi Brown Corkran, and Paul Clement. They reminisce about their days clerking for D.C. Circuit judges and analyze three recent circuit opinions on liability under terrorism laws, executive privilege, and no-fly lists.

Some property owners sued an arm of the State of Louisiana for damages and won a $10 million judgment. Wow, that’s real money! Except, because […]

Michigan lawyer and YouTube legal sensation Steve Lehto joins us this week. We talk a bit about his career as a broadcaster, consumer protection lawyer, […]

Like owls? We’ve got owls. Two of them. But they don’t like each other. Ben Field explains how the Ninth Circuit adjudicated with this Parliament […]

With the doors to federal court closing on civil rights claims, this final episode of Season 2 heads to new terrain: state court. Click here for […]

As news followers over the last few years will know, grand jury records are super secret. But sometimes judges allow the word to get out, […]

Wanna get mad? This week we’ve got you covered. Two cases where the government plays by different rules from the rest of us. First Jaba […]

Following in the footsteps of last week’s Super Bowl halftime show, we’re keeping it West Coast today. Two cases from the Ninth Circuit that are […]

The Institute for Justice just issued a new report, 50 Shades of Government Immunity, about what happens when you go to state–not federal–court after the […]

Divorce can be hard on the kids. Especially when the divorce was 40 years ago, the government doesn’t believe it happened, and your U.S. citizenship […]

Sometimes when the government does bad things to you it violates the Constitution. And sometimes it just violates the contract. Jeff Rowes explains the difference, […]

Is it “on bonk” or “n bank”? IJ lawyers disagree on how to pronounce a full court of appeals considering a case. But whatever your […]

Why so-called Terry stops are a threat to essential Fourth Amendment rights

In Ohio, wildlife inspectors think that the law gives them permission to come into private businesses without permission—no probable cause or warrant required

Ever wondered when the police can pull you over and what they can do once you stop? Then this episode brings news you can use […]

It’s a new year but little is new with qualified immunity in the Fifth Circuit. Or is it? Easha Anand of the MacArthur Justice Center […]

In Virginia, any one of 176 so-called barrier crimes can disqualify a person from work in certain occupations for life—no matter how old the conviction, how unrelated it is to the work the person desires to do, or how little it reflects the person’s fitness today. These laws kept IJ client Rudy Carey from fulfilling work as a substance abuse counselor for people he is uniquely fit to help. In today’s show, we talk about what happened to Rudy and how he is fighting against collateral consequences laws that are irrational and unjust.

It’s our 200th episode! We’re taking this second century as an excuse to explore where Short Circuit came from and what it’s done, both the […]

In what may be the most obvious of examples of obvious constitutional violations, we discuss the right to not have the police put you in […]

Where do you go to challenge an illegal tax? Well, if that tax is a tariff your destination is the United States Court of International […]

Fans of the Hart-Fuller debate are gonna love this one. As will normal people who have no idea what that means. Legal philosopher HLA Hart […]

In addition to some other civil rights anniversaries, 2021 marks 50 years since the Supreme Court decided Younger v. Harris. There, the Court made it […]

In 1983, in the case of Briscoe v. LaHue, the Supreme Court ruled that government employees who commit perjury at trial are absolutely immune from […]

In 2005, Charles Rehberg annoyed some politically powerful people in his community of Albany, Georgia, and found himself facing serious criminal charges—charges that were completely […]

What’s too hot a novel for a prisoner? Apparently “Pride and Prejudice: The Wild and Wanton Edition” meets that standard. The Eighth Circuit dug into […]

In Wilmington, Delaware, any car with more than $200 in outstanding fines can be towed by private towing companies. Vehicle owners have no way to […]

How can the government encourage us to keep our trees? In all kinds of ways, but not through mandating the replanting of trees regardless of […]