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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
Cocaine & waffles, voter rolls, and deeding the farm.
John Ross | 6.26.2026 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.
New case! The Texas Constitution says that "monopolies are contrary to the genius of a free government, and shall never be allowed." And yet! Waxahachie officials have imposed a monopoly on construction dumpster rentals, handing the market to a big national chain and outlawing honest competition from folks like IJ client American AF Dumpster Rentals. Not so genial if you ask us.
New on the Short Circuit podcast: But what if the police themselves are the emergency?
Allegation: Chinese-American IT worker for the State Department is harassed by a diplomatic security officer because of his ethnicity. It culminates in the officer coming to his home, where the officer forcefully grabbed him and then pantomimed pointing a gun at his son while calling the child a racial slur. He sues the gov't under the Federal Tort Claims Act. D.C. Circuit: That all sounds pretty assault-ey to us; lawsuit undismissed. In January 2025, the Trump Administration expanded expedited removal of illegal aliens to the maximum extent allowed by Congress. A due process violation? D.C. Circuit: No. Concurrence: we don't even have jurisdiction. Dissent: Yes. Mom discovers that Skaneateles, N.Y. school had been socially transitioning her child without telling her. She objects, but the school persists, so she sends kid to a private school. District court: Mom lacks standing to challenge the school's policy. Second Circuit (unpublished): She can't seek prospective relief, but she certainly can seek damages, particularly in the wake of the Supreme Court's interim docket decision on the same topic. So, you know those "explanation of benefits" documents that your health-insurance company sends you that you don't read? What happens if they're defamatory—like, what if they tell you that your claim is being denied because your doctor doesn't have a license to practice medicine even though your doctor totally has a license to practice medicine? It turns out, the Third Circuit says, the doctor's defamation claims are preempted by ERISA. In response to several near-fatal overdoses, a Virginia prison institutes a new strip-search protocol—of inmates escorted to a nearly empty videoconference room, that they use one at a time, under video........© Reason.com
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