Check out the latest edition of Short Circuit, a weekly feature written by the team at the Institute for Justice.
Exciting news on a new cert petition! If the FBI SWAT team mistakenly raids your home, causing fear and distress to your family due to an address mix-up, you may want to take legal action. However, the Eleventh Circuit recently ruled that FBI agents have the discretion to raid the wrong house without consequences. Institute for Justice has petitioned the Supreme Court to address this issue and clarify the interpretation of federal statutes.
Listen to the latest episode of the Short Circuit podcast, where Michael Perloff from the ACLU discusses Fourth Amendment protections for your belongings while in police custody.
- Three individuals are arrested for the murder of a Boston pizza delivery man. One pleads guilty, and the other two are tried together. The state uses incriminating statements from one defendant against the other, leading to a conviction. Is this a Sixth Amendment violation? The First Circuit upheld the conviction, despite some dissenting opinions.
- The Second Circuit has allowed a lawsuit to proceed, alleging discrimination against Asian-American students in changes to the admission process of prestigious high schools in NYC.
- The Third Circuit revisits a case involving Merck’s anti-osteoporosis drug Fosamax, ruling that state-law claims are not preempted by federal law.
- The Third Circuit rules against a prison official who held a mentally ill prisoner in solitary confinement for 26 years, denying qualified immunity.
- The Fifth Circuit rules in favor of a Texas veterinarian who provided online pet advice, overturning a Texas law requiring in-person examinations.
- The Fifth Circuit denies Texas’s request for a jury trial in a case involving barriers across the Rio Grande, citing that the Seventh Amendment does not apply to cases seeking equitable relief.
- The Fifth Circuit allows a lawsuit challenging the Inflation Reduction Act’s prescription drug pricing regulations to proceed.
- Christian healthcare ministry and a Catholic school challenge Michigan anti-discrimination laws.
Michigan: However, they should not be concerned because the law specifies that it does not apply in cases where it would violate other applicable laws. Therefore, the law cannot cover anything that would be unconstitutional to cover. Sixth Circuit: Nice try.
The American Rescue Plan Act tied certain types of COVID-19 aid for farmers to the race of the farmer receiving the aid. Several federal judges suggested that this may be unconstitutional, but two-thirds of the Sixth Circuit panel disagreed, stating that it was not overly unconstitutional to warrant awarding fees to the plaintiff challenging it.
Allegation: A woman in Charlestown, Ind. is assured by police officers that her violent, abusive, unstable husband will be detained in a hospital for 24 hours. However, this turns out to be a lie, and the husband is free to leave, returning home to carry out his threats to kill her. Seventh Circuit: Some of this case must go to trial. Judge Scudder highlights the tragic risks of domestic violence and emphasizes the need for police departments to prioritize training on responses to domestic violence.
Allegation: During an oil pipeline protest in North Dakota, police tackle a protestor, pile on top of him, and strike him despite him not resisting. The protestor suffers a fractured pelvis and other injuries. Eighth Circuit: This could constitute excessive force, and there is no qualified immunity.
A man flees a traffic stop on foot in Kansas City, Mo., and an officer chases him down and fatally shoots him. The officer claims the man was pointing a gun, but there is no video evidence, and the man was unarmed. Eighth Circuit: A jury may find that the man could not have been pointing anything as he was shot in the back of the elbow. No qualified immunity.
A pro se Arkansas inmate alleges a sexual relationship with a prison security officer, violating his Eighth Amendment rights. Eighth Circuit: The relationship was consensual, and there was no Eighth Amendment violation. A dissenting opinion suggests a remand for further proceedings.
The Ninth Circuit is the only federal circuit treating dicta as binding precedent, leading to corrections in old panel opinions. An Alameda County, Calif. case involving the detention of a mother and her teen daughters by officers is ruled unconstitutional, and the officers are ordered to pay $8.25 million in damages.
Arizona’s law allowing counties to cancel voter registrations based on a change of address is challenged by nonprofits, but the Ninth Circuit rules they do not have standing as they are not voters. In Alabama, transgender individuals sue to change their sex designation on driver’s licenses without gender reassignment surgery, but the Eleventh Circuit rules against them.
A Florida boat crew mistakenly interferes with a research project, leading to felony theft charges. The Eleventh Circuit reverses the conviction, noting the intent to profit was lacking.
A new case in Pennsylvania questions the authority of waterways conservation officers to investigate fishing law violations on private land. The Institute for Justice files a lawsuit on behalf of a client who faced harassment and baseless charges from an officer, highlighting the importance of upholding Fourth Amendment rights. Please rewrite this sentence.
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