Episodes

  • Short Circuit 343 | Fourth Amendment Effects

    Short Circuit 343 | Fourth Amendment Effects
    Sep 27 2024
    “Effects” isn’t a word that most people associate with “my stuff” these days. But that’s what it means in the Fourth Amendment. Our “effects” are protected from unreasonable searches and seizures just as much as “person, houses” and “papers.” Unfortunately, the D.C. police don’t agree and have been seizing people’s phones and other items and not giving them back even when they have no intention of prosecuting the property owners. Well, that may be changing because the D.C. Circuit recently issued a major decision recognizing that a “seizure” is ongoing as long as the police have your stuff in their possession. Michael Perloff of the ACLU argued and won the case and he joins us to discuss its ramifications. Several other circuits have gone the other way on the question, making it a prime issue for another court in Washington D.C. Also, Rob Frommer of IJ’s Fourth Amendment Project treats us to a qualified immunity/Fourth Amendment opinion from the Ninth Circuit about someone who was severely injured by foam baton round fired by a police officer. The judges address the extremely odd question of whether an officer gets the benefit of case law getting better for him after he commits a constitutional violation when it comes to qualified immunity. “Um, no” is the Ninth Circuit’s answer, which leads into a discussion of how qualified immunity may be changing. Asinor v. D.C. Sanderlin v. Dwyer Baby blood case Molly Brady’s “The Lost ‘Effects’” article
    Show more Show less
    33 mins
  • Short Circuit 342 | Kicked Out of the Libertarian Club?

    Short Circuit 342 | Kicked Out of the Libertarian Club?
    Sep 20 2024
    Economic liberty is in poll position. Or at least it won an early round victory in North Carolina. IJ attorney, and North Carolinian, Josh Windham reports on a recent ruling of the North Carolina Supreme Court about a racing track and the right to earn a living. Josh brings his knowledge of state constitutions and litigation tactics to tell this tale that began in the dark days of the COVID-19 pandemic. It also has a sovereign immunity angle that fans of IJ’s Project on Immunity and Accountability may enjoy. Then we have a special treat for fans of pizza—and, of course, that’s essentially everyone. What doesn’t include everyone, though, are those who enjoy having foreign websites track everything we do on our computers. Will Aronin of IJ tells us of a Third Circuit case that examines how various companies track users’ online activity while on the companies’ websites—including users ordering pizza. Is that tracking enough to mean you can sue the company in Pennsylvania? Well, we don’t know because the court didn’t allow the case to go forward. Will breaks it down while providing some strong views about invasions of one’s personal—and virtual—space, plus a throwback reference to shrinkwrap licensing. And did you know that on any given day 13% of Americans are eating pizza? Kinsley v. Ace Speedway Racing Hasson v. Fullstory, Inc. Shrinkwrap license case Short Circuit episode on Georgia economic liberty case Anthony on Advisory Opinions about Justice Holmes Dumas’ Marguerite de Valois
    Show more Show less
    55 mins
  • Short Circuit 341 | Live from Austin: Local Retaliation

    Short Circuit 341 | Live from Austin: Local Retaliation
    Sep 13 2024
    A special edition of Short Circuit Live where the Institute for Justice teamed up with the Texas Observer for a conversation about how local governments increasingly are retaliating against those who call them to account. The event took place in Austin, Texas on September 4, 2024, and was subtitled “Picking the man and then searching the lawbooks: How local governments turn to their criminal codes to silence critics.” It brought together the Observer’s Gus Bova, IJ’s Anya Bidwell, Texas journalist Jason Buch, and Texas attorney David Gonzalez. The discussion mentions several high-profile examples of local-government retaliation from the last few years, including IJ’s Gonzalez v. Trevino and a case that the Supreme Court may soon also hear, Villarreal v. City of Laredo. The confluence of journalists, a civil rights lawyer, and an attorney who has worked as a Texas special prosecutor make for a wide-ranging exploration that we hope you enjoy. Gonzalez v. Trevino case page Villarreal v. City of Laredo en banc Right on Crime Over Ruled by Justice Gorsuch Texas Observer
    Show more Show less
    1 hr and 8 mins
  • Short Circuit 340 | No Way to Run a Railroad

    Short Circuit 340 | No Way to Run a Railroad
    Sep 6 2024
    An extremely sad case, especially for man’s best friend (dog-lover discretion is advised!), and a happy case for property rights. First, the Center for Judicial Engagement’s new Assistant Director, John Wrench, brings us the latest in wild Fifth Circuit qualified-immunity stories with a domestic disturbance check gone bad—so bad that an officer is alleged to have shot two non-threatening dogs. A silver lining is that the grant of qualified immunity was reversed on appeal. Then Betsy Sanz hops aboard to ride the rails. She tells us of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s recent decision that the word “railroad’ doesn’t magically turn everything it touches into a public use. It’s a big Fifth Amendment takings case that prevented the use of eminent domain to build a railroad that would only service one party. It also brings to light another railroad-takings case that IJ is litigating in Georgia. Ramirez v. Killian Wolfe v. Reading Blue Mountain Bound By Oath episode on Pennsylvania and coal IJ’s Georgia railroad eminent domain case From a Railway Carriage
    Show more Show less
    51 mins
  • Short Circuit 339 | The Crime of Journalism

    Short Circuit 339 | The Crime of Journalism
    Aug 30 2024
    Part of the job description of a journalist is talk to public officials, gather information, and report on it. Unfortunately, that seems to be a crime in Texas. An unconstitutional crime, to be sure, but enough of a crime that the Fifth Circuit said there was qualified immunity for officers who arrested a citizen journalist for asking question of a source within a police department and reporting what she heard. JT Morris of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) joins us to discuss this loooooong running case and a pending cert petition at the Supreme Court. It involves the First Amendment, freedom of the press, the Fourth Amendment, arrest warrants, retaliation, and all kinds of Fifth Circuit drama. Then we move to the Eleventh Circuit where our own Anya Bidwell reports on an extremely strict version of qualified immunity that protected a forcible strip search made of a visitor to a prison without any probable cause. There are also concurrences disagreeing with the circuit’s own caselaw, including and one of our favorite staples: a Judge Newsom concurrence asking “what is the law?” IJ event with the Texas Observer in Austin on September 4! Short Circuit on YouTube Villarreal v. Laredo (en banc) Villarreal v. Laredo (panel) Villarreal cert petition Short Circuit 201 (discussing Villarreal panel opinion w/o dissent) Pentagon Papers case Gilmore v. Georgia Dept. of Corrections
    Show more Show less
    44 mins
  • Short Circuit 338 | Geofence Warrants

    Short Circuit 338 | Geofence Warrants
    Aug 23 2024
    One reason we have a Fourth Amendment is to be free from general warrants, permission slips for the government to search, well, everything. Is that what newfangled “geofence warrants” are? The Fifth Circuit thinks so, which is why it found one to be unconstitutional. Your host brings you the tale of a postal heist where the bandits were only found through a search of Google accounts—592 million of them. But was it a “search” in the first place? We hack into this high-tech matter. But first IJ’s Kirby Thomas West provides an example of special rules for government attorneys. The lawyers for some defendants in a civil rights case didn’t want to use qualified immunity, at least not before trial. But then the trial judge ordered them to. And then, by golly, they won. Was that, um, fair? Seems the Eighth Circuit thought it was hunky dory. Kirby, who has experienced much-less-forgiving judicial treatment while litigating on the other side, begs to differ. Webb v. Lakey U.S. v. Smith U.S. v. Chatrie
    Show more Show less
    36 mins
  • Short Circuit 337 | Facebook Comment Board of Appeals

    Short Circuit 337 | Facebook Comment Board of Appeals
    Aug 16 2024
    Anyone who has ever grown enraged after seeing their comment deleted from a Facebook page will find solace in this week’s episode. We examine a free speech tussle between the National Institutes of Health and the animal rights folks at PETA. IJ’s Michael Soyfer brings us this First Amendment case from the D.C. Circuit which said that blocking certain hashtags isn’t necessarily right even when the posters say mean things. But before that we look at interstate commerce and truckers. The Fifth Circuit isn’t happy about its interstate commerce caselaw, but it’s not the Wickard v. Filburn variety concerning the Constitution. No, it’s an overtime showdown between the Motor Vehicle Carrier Act and the Fair Labor Standards Act. Time travel with us to the days of Schechter Poultry v. United States with your guide, fresh off his pandemic hobby escapades, IJ’s Suranjan Sen. Escobedo v. Ace Gathering PETA v. Tabak Story of the Schechter butchers
    Show more Show less
    40 mins
  • Short Circuit 336 | Thor’s Seizure

    Short Circuit 336 | Thor’s Seizure
    Aug 9 2024
    A most unusual Fourth Amendment case this week: One cop claims there was a seizure while another says there was not. They disagree because one cop is suing the other. Guess which cop wins? It’s the one with the dog—named Thor—that got a little too eager in a cemetery while in hot pursuit. But apparently didn’t “seize” the other by mistakenly tearing into his leg. Dylan Moore of IJ brings us this canine caper from the Eighth Circuit. Then your host takes you to the en banc Fifth Circuit and tells a twisted tale of Jim Crow, felon disenfranchisement, the Eighth Amendment, and “evolving standards.” Historians of the 1890 Mississippi constitutional convention may want to take notice. Irish v. McNamara Hopkins v. Watson Short Circuit on Section 2 of 14th Amendment Puppy and I
    Show more Show less
    40 mins