Short Circuit

Short Circuit 275 | All Constitutional Law is Procedural Nonsense

Jun 8, 2023

Guests include IJ attorneys Paul Avelar, Arif Panju, and Ari Bargil. Topics cover recent IJ appellate victories, challenges in the environmental court, police abuse and excessive force, criticism of Harris County law enforcement, 'clearly established' in constitutional law, and interlocutory appeals and qualified immunity.

46:34

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Episode guests

Ari Bargil

Arif Panju

Paul Avelar

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Episode notes

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Quick takeaways

Challenging unfair court practices is essential to protect individuals' constitutional rights.

Accountability and the establishment of clear precedents are crucial in addressing excessive use of force by police officers.

Deep dives

Challenging Unconstitutional Court Practices

The podcast discusses a case in which a court system resulted in unfair and unconstitutional practices, ultimately leading to people losing their homes. The case focused on a court that was originally intended to deal with abandoned homes, but ended up targeting individuals based on subjective opinions of their home's condition. The court lacked proper rules and procedures, had no records of proceedings, and limited the ability to raise constitutional claims. The podcast highlights the importance of challenging such court practices to protect individuals' rights.

Introduction

2min

Challenging Unconstitutional Practices in the Environmental Court

23min

Police Abuse and Excessive Use of Force

8min

Criticism of Harris County Law Enforcement and Civil Forfeiture Abuse

4min

Exploring the Concept of 'Clearly Established' in Constitutional Law

2min

Interlocutory Appeals and Qualified Immunity

8min

IJ attorney Paul Avelar seizes the means of production (and the Short Circuit microphone) and hosts this week’s episode, live from IJ’s annual Law Student Conference. He’s joined by IJ attorneys Arif Panju and Ari Bargil, who come on to demonstrate that they are, in fact, different people. Arif first details a recent IJ appellate victory in the Sixth Circuit, where Judge Sutton once again explained that if your name is not “Rooker” or “Feldman” then the Rooker-Feldman doctrine most likely does not apply. Arif also gives the facts of the tragic story of what our clients went through before the “Environmental Court” in Memphis, Tennessee, and where the lawsuit challenging its Kangaroo nature now stands. Then Ari digs into a police raid gone horribly wrong in Harris County, Texas. Not exactly a story of the Lone Star State’s finest, as the Fifth Circuit recently indicated. There’s also much ado about procedure.

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Tuttle v. Sepolio

Hohenberg v. Shelby County

That book Paul won’t stop talking about