Podcasts Archive
Short Circuit 186 | Chillin’ With Uber
Usually a “chill” on your freedom of speech is the easiest constitutional injury to prove. But in the Tenth Circuit it seems if you speak […]
Listen NowThese People Lost $85 Million in an L.A. Heist…and the Robber was the FBI
How an illegal search and seizure turned into a federal cash grab
In March 2021, FBI agents broke into private safe deposit boxes at the Southern California business U.S. Private Vaults and—though no individual box owner was […]
Listen NowShort Circuit 185 | Guns and Football
More on two of America’s favorite subjects this week. Josh House rejoins us as we analyze six separate opinions about one football coach. Josh last […]
Listen NowShort Circuit 184 | California Constitutional Dreaming
On a special Short Circuit we look at the Constitution, and the constitutional history, of the Golden State. With two state constitutions and conventions in […]
Listen NowShort Circuit 183 | Expectations of Surveillance
The Supreme Court has said a “search” occurs when the police invade your “reasonable expectation of privacy.” So what is a “reasonable expectation” to be […]
Listen NowShort Circuit 182 | Putting the Protection in “Equal Protection”
Today we think of the Equal Protection Clause as requiring equal treatment of the laws. But in addition to anything else it covers, at its […]
Listen NowShort Circuit 181 | Mandatory Associations
It’s not often that we get three different appellate opinions on the same issue in one week. But recently the Fifth Circuit (twice) and the […]
Listen NowShort Circuit 180 | A Fifth of Qualified Immunity
The Fifth Circuit is not boring. In just one week they served up enough qualified immunity cases to fill an entire episode, and then some. […]
Listen NowCities Caught Extracting Millions From Residents Through Fines and Fees Traps
In Episode 30 of Deep Dive, we talked about how fines for harmless property code violations could snowball into six-figure debt. All too often, municipalities […]
Listen NowShort Circuit 179 | Taking Bees with the Police Power
Something that is not the bee’s knees is when the county mosquito sprayers forget to tell you to cover up your bees so they don’t […]
Listen NowSupreme Court Shuts Down Police on Entering Your Home Without a Warrant
The government argued that if police aren’t investigating a crime, they should be able to access your property
This term, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a unanimous opinion in Caniglia v. Strom, a case about the “community caretaking” exception to the general principle […]
Listen NowThe Shooting of Bobby Moore — Part 2 | Season 2, Ep. 7
In 1978, the Supreme Court held that individuals can sue local governments for constitutional violations in federal court. Indeed, the Court held that Congress had […]
Listen NowThe Shooting of Bobby Moore — Part 1 | Season 2, Ep. 7
In 2012, Little Rock police officer Josh Hastings shot and killed 15-year-old Bobby Moore and lied about how it happened. Hastings had a long history […]
Listen NowShort Circuit 178 | First Amendment Home Design
If I express myself through designing a new house, is that expression protected by the First Amendment? Last week the Eleventh Circuit avoided that question […]
Listen NowShort Circuit 177 | When Are Judges “Too Cool?”
How many pop culture references can a judge make in an opinion before we start to cringe? “Dean” of #AppellateTwitter Raffi Melkonian joins us to […]
Listen NowShort Circuit 176 | Conjunction Junction, what’s your function?
There’s this mysterious word in English that courts love to talk about, the Notorious A-N-D. Does it, in fact, mean “and?” Or does it mean […]
Listen NowShort Circuit 175 | Tax Takings and Reservation Creation
Can the county foreclose on your house because you haven’t paid your taxes, and then just keep the rest of your equity? In Ohio, yeah, […]
Listen NowThis Florida Woman Got a $100,000 Fine for Parking in Her Own Driveway
How Trivial Code Violations Can Lead to Financial Ruin—And How to Fight Back
After Sandy Martinez got a ticket from Lantana, Florida, for parking her car with its wheels slightly outside her driveway and on the grass in […]
Listen NowShort Circuit 174 | The Right to “Bear” Arms
Second Amendment scholar David Kopel sits down with us to set the stage for a big issue we’ll hear a lot about over the next […]
Listen NowShort Circuit 173 | Public Accommodations and High Speed Snaps
Legal raconteur and writer David Lat joins us for some underneath-their-robes hijinks. David talks a bit about his new venture and his battle with COVID-19. […]
Listen NowThese Laws Let Your Competitors Decide When Your Business is “Needed”
What are “Certificates of Need,” and who should get to decide whether an entrepreneur can try out a business idea?
When IJ client Abdallah Batayneh tried to open a resort shuttle service in rural Colorado, his application was denied by a state regulatory agency at […]
Listen NowShort Circuit 172 | Confronting Cook County Corruption
What does Sir Walter Raleigh have to do with a Tennessee murder trial? You’ll learn from Rob Johnson, as he confronts his witness with a […]
Listen NowLaw for Non-Lawyers - Standards of Review (A Deep Dive Best of)
Why do property, economic, and other vital liberties get only “rational basis” review?
What does it mean when courts apply “strict scrutiny” in their review of a law? Why do property, economic, and other vital liberties get only […]
Listen NowShort Circuit 171 | Should Originalists Party Like It’s 1868, not 1791?
On a special Short Circuit, professors Christopher Green and Evan Bernick join your host Anthony Sanders to examine one of the great questions of the […]
Listen NowShort Circuit 170 | A Hot Mess and Seven Magic Words
What can a court say in 325 pages? So much that we don’t have much of a clue. Diana Simpson slices and dices the Fifth […]
Listen NowBitcoin and the Constitution: Is Code Speech?
And Can the 4th Amendment Keep the Government Out of Your Crypto?
Although Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are hitting the mainstream, the way the law will treat them is still undeveloped. In this episode, we talk about […]
Listen NowShort Circuit 169 | The Duct Tape of Federal Law
If you’re not a major party candidate it can be really hard to get on the ballot. So hard it’s sometimes unconstitutional. Paul Sherman explains […]
Listen NowPierson to Pearson | Season 2, Ep. 6
In 1967, the Supreme Court invented qualified immunity. And in 1982, the Court transformed the doctrine into the one we have today. On this episode, […]
Listen NowShort Circuit 168 | Suspicious Handshakes and Football Prayers
Can the police stop and frisk your person based on their “training and experience?” Not if that training and experience is simply that drug dealers […]
Listen Now“Predictive Policing” Algorithm Creates a Dystopian Nightmare for Residents of This Florida Town
How One Sheriff’s Office Harasses and Arrests Citizens It Suspects of Future Crimes
When the Institute for Justice filed suit against the so-called predictive policing program in Pasco County, Florida, the Sheriff’s Office issued a statement saying that […]
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