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Short Circuit: An inexhaustive weekly compendium of rulings from the federal courts of appeal
The Volokh Conspiracy
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Short Circuit: An inexhaustive weekly compendium of rulings from the federal courts of appeal
Civil unrest, true threats, and South Carolina receptions.
John Ross | 3.20.2026 3:30 PM
Please enjoy the latest edition of Short Circuit, a weekly feature written by a bunch of people at the Institute for Justice.
America turns 250 this year, which is outstanding. But you know who else turns 250 this year? A whole lot of state declarations of rights. And that is a thing to celebrate, too, which we'll do on Friday, April 10 with our friends at the Liberty & Law Center at Scalia Law School in Arlington, Va. You should come, too. Register here! And in the meantime, check out our blog series on state declarations, this week focusing on Delaware.
New on the Short Circuit podcast: An interesting lease between boyfriend and girlfriend proves decisive in a forfeiture case.
Within days of President Trump beginning his second term, OMB orders a sweeping freeze to all federal financial assistance programs. The following day, 22 states sue, alleging that the freeze is unlawful. The following day, OMB rescinds the memo announcing the policy. Feds: So the lawsuit is moot. First Circuit: Then why did the White House Press Secretary post, "This is NOT a rescission of the federal funding freeze. It is simply a rescission of the OMB memo"? The case is live and the preliminary injunction against the freeze is affirmed. But the part of the injunction actually requiring disbursement of the money is vacated. This First Circuit case is not that big of a deal. But it's about escheatment, and there's a guy on the Short Circuit staff who really loves telling people that the word "cheater" is derived from the word "escheator" because of the widespread (seemingly correct) belief that the king's escheators were more interested in gobbling up property for profit than anything else. So, there you go. Tell your friends. After teen is shot and killed in Boston park in 1974, vicenarian suspect flees to the Midwest and evades detection using different aliases—before eventually being indicted for the murder in 1997 and convicted in 2004. Suspect: I didn't get a speedy trial. Massachusetts: … because you were on the lam. First Circuit: The speedy-trial clock starts with the 1997 indictment, and you didn't argue that the 1997–2004 gap was too long. No habeas for you. Three people sue Diddy under pseudonyms, alleging that the rapper sexually assaulted them. Second Circuit (unpublished): They need to reveal their names under our ten-factor test that balances the presumption of openness and need for anonymity. Possessing no penological purpose, prison policeman purposefully pummels pretrial prisoner's penis. Permissible? Second Circuit: Preposterous. New York prisoner calmly and repeatedly requests to be........© Reason.com
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