Short Circuit

Latest Episodes
Short Circuit 369 | Substantive Due Process, The Podcast
Most weeks we summarize two, sometimes three, cases from the federal courts of appeals. This week we provide to you free of charge (as always) one, single, case. But, hang on, it has four opinions! It
Short Circuit 368 | Flipping the Bird
Is stretching out ones middle finger at the police protected by the First Amendment? And whether it is or not, can the police trump up charges and assault someone who flips that bird? We dig into tho
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. Its something that has fallen out of a lot of our constitutional convers
Short Circuit 366 | I Love You But Can’t
Whats the difference between a campaign contribution and a bribe? More than the Sixth Circuit seemed to think. Or so argues Paul Sherman of IJ about a recent appeal of a bribery prosecution of a Cinc
Short Circuit 365 | I Like Old Property
A long-time friend of the Institute for Justice, Robert Thomas, joins us this week. For years hes litigated property rights cases across the country, lately for the Pacific Legal Foundation, and also
Short Circuit 364 | Big Bats
Everyone agrees we need to build more homes. But what if those homes are going to be in your backyard? For some reason that possibility often leads to discoveries of endangered species. Ben Field of I
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 decision on whether to take the license away? Almost
Short 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 a house down. And whether that was OK. They came to different conclusion
Short Circuit 361 | Reading the Qualified Tea Leaves
We welcome back Easha Anand of Stanford Laws Supreme Court Litigation Clinic for her third (or is it fourth?) appearance. Last time she was on she had not yet argued at the Supreme Court, but now she
Short 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 cannabis, fine you $10,000 a day, and not give you a hearing for