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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
Backup groomsmen, weak sauce, and interment camps.
John Ross | 9.11.2026 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! IJ client Katy Duckstein is a former public school math teacher who opened Roots Learning Academy, an innovative hybrid homeschooling program that's open three days a week and is a real boon to her community north of Pittsburgh, Pa. But earlier this year, state officials ordered her to shut down, accusing her of operating an unlicensed daycare. Phooey!
New on the Short Circuit podcast: How the Ninth Circuit is just too darn big. As told via gas stoves and gun shops.
If you're on law Twitter, you've probably seen the opinion in which Judge Pillard calls one of the federal gov't's arguments "weak sauce." But while everyone's been debating whether that phrase is or is not too informal, nobody seems to be talking about the D.C. Circuit's actual decision, which affirms a preliminary injunction prohibiting the IRS from sharing data on allegedly undocumented immigrants with ICE. Ain't many examples of the federal gov't screaming "emergency!" and not getting what it wants. But to that short list you can add this D.C. Circuit rejection of the feds' order that a due-to-retire coal-fired power plant remain open. Restaurant/bar owner alleges one of D.C.'s (in)famously hyper-local neighborhood commissions held up his liquor-license renewal with a frivolous objection in retaliation for the owner's civil disobedience and criticism of late-COVID-era masking and vaccination requirements. D.C. Circuit: Violating the COVID orders wasn't itself First Amendment-protected expression, but there are sufficient allegations of retaliation against the associated speech to state a claim. Case undismissed. A firearms trade group brings a federal constitutional challenge against a N.J. public nuisance law (said to impose vague requirements on gunmakers), but the Third Circuit (2023) says it cannot proceed: The state hasn't enforced the law against the group (and says it won't). But wait! Months later, the state enforces the law against one of the group's members. Third Circuit: And it'd be quite the Catch-22 not to let this proceed now. Case undismissed! New Jersey officials reject pipeline company's application to dredge a channel in Raritan Bay—it'd stir up arsenic, manganese, mercury, etc. in the sediment. Five years later, the company submits essentially the same........© Reason.com
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