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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
A camp chair, a shaking of faith, and a murder in front of a Waffle House.
John Ross | 5.15.2026 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.
Good news! With near-unanimous bipartisan support, the Colorado General Assembly this week passed HB26-1250, a civil forfeiture reform bill that closes a longstanding loophole in Colorado law allowing property to be forfeited without a criminal conviction. The bill also makes Colorado one of the first states in the nation to grant forfeiture defendants the right to an attorney in civil cases. "Even after significant reforms in recent years, Colorado's civil forfeiture laws still permit the government to permanently confiscate property without a criminal conviction," said Alasdair Whitney, legislative counsel at the Institute for Justice. "This bill closes that loophole for good, and it also makes Colorado the first state in the nation to grant property owners the right to an attorney in the forfeiture proceeding, just like there is in criminal court."
New on the Short Circuit podcast: Get in loser, we're going shopping. With Roy Moore! (No, he's not on the show. But we discuss how he was allegedly at the mall. A lot. Along with "Santa's helper.")
New York's Chancellor Kent (1811): "It is a principle in the English common law, as ancient as the law itself, that a statute, even of its omnipotent parliament, is not to have a retrospective effect." And the same is true in our new land of liberty. New York's highest court (2025): No, actually it's totes fine. Second Circuit (2026): And constitutional in all the ways. The American Association of University Professors and the American Federation of Teachers sue the feds to restore grants withheld from Columbia University. The unions move for a preliminary injunction, lose, and appeal to the Second Circuit. While the appeal is pending, the unions and the feds strike a deal and the unions withdraw their claims, mooting the case. Should the denial of the preliminary injunction be vacated? Second Circuit: Yes, the parties stipulated that plaintiffs didn't cause the mootness. Dissent: But we all know that they kinda did. Retailers Bass Pro Shops and Cabela's use a JavaScript code on their websites that tracks your mouse movements, clicks, scrolls, zooms, window resizes, keystrokes, and text entries, allowing them to build digital "fingerprints" of online shoppers. Aggrieved shoppers across the country sue, and their cases are consolidated in the E.D. Pa., which dismisses their claims. Third Circuit: Which was........© Reason.com
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