It’s hard to sue the police. But it’s even harder to sue a judge. Rob Johnson returns to tell us about an Eighth Circuit case where a suit against a judge can actually go forward . . . partly. Why one way and why the other? It seems it might be all because of the robe. It didn’t help the judge that he physically put two kids in jail himself. Then we swing through the Sixth Circuit for a cop who opens a car door and hilarity (and the community care doctrine) ensues. Sound a bit like a Mickey Spillane story? You can judge for yourself.
Pennsylvania v. Dunlap (Roberts dissent)
Recent Episodes
Short Circuit 363 | The Licensing Racket

You probably know that all-too-many jobs require a license to work. But how is that license administered, who enforces its rules, and who makes the […]
Listen NowShort Circuit 362 | Boil the Frog to Tear Down the House

Two cases, from the Fourth and Sixth Circuits, came out within just a few days of each other, and each was about a city tearing […]
Listen NowShort Circuit 361 | Reading the Qualified Tea Leaves

We welcome back Easha Anand of Stanford Law’s Supreme Court Litigation Clinic for her third (or is it fourth?) appearance. Last time she was on […]
Listen NowShort Circuit 360 | Weed and Fines

If you have a greenhouse, and a government agent sees it on Google Maps, is that fact probable cause to charge you with growing illegal […]
Listen Now