Short Circuit 219 | Threading the Federal Courts

Short Circuit is proud to present to you Professor Marin Levy of Duke University School of Law. She is a top scholar on the federal judiciary, including its history, how it has evolved, and how it actually works. Plus, she’s educated the world about the federal (and state!) courts through the magic of Twitter threads. We talk to her about what’s so interesting about the federal courts (with some “short” remarks about the “circuit” courts) and how she got started Tweeting them.

After that Kirby Thomas West of IJ tells us about a Second Circuit case where the government didn’t do enough to pass the First Amendment (at least for now) even though the plaintiff wasn’t the most sympathetic. And we go back to Marin to detail a Ninth Circuit case with an even less sympathetic party, but where the court overlooked the importance of some pretty intriguing issues, such as whether there’s a Fourth Amendment violation if the government comes in and copies all of your stuff.

Register for IJ’s Judicial Engagement Forum on the Michigan Constitution.

Click here for transcript.

Recent Episodes

Short Circuit 368 | Flipping the Bird

Is stretching out one’s middle finger at the police protected by the First Amendment? And whether it is or not, can the police trump up […]

Listen Now

Short Circuit 367 | The Police Power

Often in old constitutional cases you see judges of yonder years invoking this mysterious substance called “the police power.” It’s something that has fallen out […]

Listen Now

Short Circuit 366 | I Love You But Can’t

What’s the difference between a campaign contribution and a bribe? More than the Sixth Circuit seemed to think. Or so argues Paul Sherman of IJ […]

Listen Now

Short Circuit 365 | I Like Old Property

A long-time friend of the Institute for Justice, Robert Thomas, joins us this week. For years he’s litigated property rights cases across the country, lately […]

Listen Now