What is Short Circuit?
Short Circuit is your concise (and sometimes irreverent) source for important and interesting cases and legal stories you might otherwise have missed.
Launched by the Institute for Justice (IJ) in 2015, Short Circuit started off as a short weekly newsletter rounding up the most interesting developments in the federal circuit courts of appeal as well as a weekly podcast digging into a couple recent particularly noteworthy cases.
Today, as part of IJ’s Center for Judicial Engagement, and with the newsletter and flagship podcast still going strong, Short Circuit also includes our legal history documentary podcast Bound By Oath, now in its fourth season, and our monthly roundtable podcast Unpublished Opinions. We also hold live shows (contact us if you’re interested in hosting one) and other events. Wherever and whoever you are there’s plenty of options to get engaged.
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Recent Newsletters
Prison phone calls, volcanic eruptions, and animal testing.
New podcast! Hear about the latest in legal history with “Law Office History,” IJ’s new legal history scholarship podcast. First episode features Will Baude on General Law & the 14th…
Water rights absurdities, ponderous parking ordinances, and fast trains.
New case! Last year, in Rivera v. Borough of Pottstown, a Pennsylvania appeals court ruled that individualized suspicion is required before gov’t officials can get a warrant to search homes…
Bogus traffic stops, cell-site simulating, and chain refoulment.
“Technology may make surveillance more convenient, but it does not make the Fourth Amendment’s protections any less important.” So said IJ legislative counsel Alasdair Whitney this week at a congressional hearing…