Short Circuit

Professor Marin Levy, top scholar on the federal judiciary, discusses the history and workings of the federal courts. She also shares how she educates through Twitter threads. Interesting topics include Second Circuit case regarding First Amendment and Ninth Circuit case on Fourth Amendment violation.

Topics discussed include attorney's fees, challenging a law on sex offender registration, violation of constitutional rights, retaliation and municipal liability, analyzing Supreme Court cases and parody articles.

Guests Tori Clark and Sam Gedge discuss challenges of protecting free speech in the Eighth and Ninth Circuits. Topics include privately enforced laws, a case involving newspaper ads and a restraining order, a federal court's dismissal of a challenge to a statute, an Oregon senator's First Amendment claim, and recent cases on First Amendment retaliation.

The podcast discusses the difficulties of suing the US government, a court case involving government liability in a fatal flood, challenges in turning a farm into a housing development, non delegation claims in municipal authority, and the court's determination on the Race family's zoning application.

A man imprisoned for a small drug sale wins a new trial after fighting through state and federal courts. A case in Texas explores the impact of a prosecutor's conflict of interest on a wrongful conviction. The validity of a failed objection during trial and its impact on appeal is debated. The tendency of juries to make decisions based on personal interpretations is discussed. Ongoing legal battles over the release of 3D printed gun files and jurisdiction are explored.

Three Supreme Court lawyers reminisce about their days clerking for D.C. Circuit judges. They analyze recent circuit opinions on liability under terrorism laws, executive privilege, and no-fly lists. The podcast also covers the significance of the D.C. Circuit throughout history, challenging legal cases, and government treatment at the border.

Some property owners sued an arm of the State of Louisiana for damages and won a $10 million judgment. Wow, that’s real money! Except, because the lawsuit was in state court they can’t collect on it unless the legislature gives it to them. Which it doesn’t want to do. So the money isn’t so real after all. They then went to federal court, but the Fifth Circuit gave them some bad news. IJ’s Jeff Redfern explains. When we move to the Ninth Circuit, however, it’s all smiles. The court said an antitrust case could move forward against members of the California Dental Board. Your host Anthony Sanders gives the latest in turning the antitrust laws on the most anticompetitive of them all, the regulators. Ariyan, Inc. v. Sewerage & Water Board of New Orleans, https://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub/21/21-30335-CV0.pdf SmileDirectClub, LLC v. Tippins, https://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2022/03/17/20-55735.pdf Bound By Oath podcast, https://shortcircuit.org/center-for-judicial-engagement/sc/14th-at-150-podcast/ Remedying the Loss of a Right, https://ij.org/cje-post/remedying-the-loss-of-a-right/ Jeff Redfern, https://ij.org/staff/jeffrey-redfern/ Anthony Sanders, https://ij.org/staff/asanders/

Michigan lawyer and YouTube legal sensation Steve Lehto joins us this week. We talk a bit about his career as a broadcaster, consumer protection lawyer, and host of an internet show with 300,000 subscribers. Then we get into some language he never got to “play on the radio.” All because a few police officers threw a man out of a $3 county fair for wearing a t-shirt with a famous saying of the group NWA. Or at least that’s what the Sixth Circuit said in denying the officers qualified immunity. Also, our old friend Rob Peccola comes back with the latest in the landlord wars in Minneapolis, and how the Eighth Circuit didn’t see no takings.

Like owls? We’ve got owls. Two of them. But they don’t like each other. Ben Field explains how the Ninth Circuit adjudicated with this Parliament of owls, and how a 12 gauge shotgun is involved. In addition, Evan Lisull tells a story of “chalking,” the police, and the First Amendment. Both from another Ninth Circuit case, but also from his own brush with the law. Throw in some qualified immunity and admin law, and you’ve got a very festive St. Patrick’s Day episode (minus anything Irish). Register for Short Circuit Live! Wednesday, April 6, 2022 at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., https://ij.org/event/scl/ Friends of Animals v. U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, https://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2022/03/04/21-35062.pdf Ballentine v. Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, https://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2022/03/08/20-16805.pdf Rivas-Villegas v. Cortesluna (case questioning circuits clearly establishing law), https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/21pdf/20-1539_09m1.pdf Ben Field, https://ij.org/staff/ben-field/ Evan Lisull, https://ij.org/staff/evan-lisull/ Anthony Sanders, https://ij.org/staff/asanders/

As news followers over the last few years will know, grand jury records are super secret. But sometimes judges allow the word to get out, under certain narrow circumstances. Is one of them just that the records are old and historians find them interesting? Sorry, says the First Circuit, in the latest installment of a circuit split. Rob Frommer tells us all the history. Also, can the IRS get around the Administrative Procedure Act through some creative lawyering? No, says the Sixth Circuit. John Wrench walks us through a rhetorical lashing of our tax collectors. Finally, come see Short Circuit Live in DC on April 6, 2022! The link to RSVP and join us is here: https://ij.org/event/scl/ In re: Petition for Order Directing Release of Records, http://media.ca1.uscourts.gov/pdf.opinions/20-1836P-01A.pdf Mann Construction, Inc. v. United States, https://www.opn.ca6.uscourts.gov/opinions.pdf/22a0041p-06.pdf Short Circuit Live at University of Georgia, https://shortcircuit.org/sc_podcast/124-live-at-uga-law/ Rob Frommer, https://ij.org/staff/rfrommer/ John Wrench, https://ij.org/staff/john-wrench/ Anthony Sanders, https://ij.org/staff/asanders/