Short Circuit 280 | Something’s Rotten in the State of Bivens

Scott Michelman of the ACLU-DC joins us to discuss the ins-and-outs of a recent fascinating (yet disappointing) ruling of the D.C. Circuit. Remember when President Trump had a square cleared of protesters—with tear gas—so he could take a photo op? Scott represents some of the plaintiffs in that case, whose claims against federal officials were thrown out because the court said it wasn’t enough like three cases from over forty years ago. Yet, it seems like some of the judges were reluctant about that conclusion and even offered a theory about how a different lawsuit might work in a future. Then Anya Bidwell discusses a very different result from the Seventh Circuit where a claim against federal narcotics agents could go forward because the relevant precedent, Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents of Federal Bureau of Narcotics was against, well, federal narcotics agents.

Click here for transcript.

Buchanan v. Barr

Snowden v. Henning

Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents of Federal Bureau of Narcotics

Recent Episodes

Short Circuit 383 | Rock ‘n’ Roll Yoga

Is speaking to a yoga class speech? The Ninth Circuit recently proclaimed that the answer to that question is actually “yes.” But before you turn […]

Listen Now

Short Circuit 382 | Beard Law

Who doesn’t love a nice beard? It seems the firefighters in Atlantic City. One of their employees wants to wear a beard because of his […]

Listen Now

Short Circuit 381 | Charo on the Tonight Show

We at the Institute for Justice are increasingly involved with combatting retaliation against free speech. Which is why we were highly interested to hear from […]

Listen Now

Short Circuit 380 | Homicide by Bath

Is making someone file a form “in the public interest”? The Fifth Circuit took a look at that age-old question in a recent case regarding […]

Listen Now