Check out the latest edition of Short Circuit, a weekly feature written by various individuals at the Institute for Justice. Click here to read more.
Exciting new cert petition! The Fourth Circuit takes an unconventional approach in determining whether a statute restricts speech or nonspeech conduct in First Amendment cases. Find out more by reading the cert petition.
In 2020, companies were able to persuade the SEC to impose disclosure requirements on PVABs, which was seen as a potential free speech case by some. However, in 2022, the SEC rescinded these requirements. The Sixth Circuit upheld this decision, stating that the process was acceptable.
Another case involved a man who filed a FOIA request with the TSA for video footage and incident reports. The TSA missed the deadline to respond, prompting the man to sue. The TSA then denied the request, claiming that the man needed to exhaust their internal appeal process. The Ninth Circuit disagreed, allowing the case to proceed.
Arizona passed the “Save Women’s Sports Act” in 2022, which banned transgender students from competing in women’s athletics. Two transgender girls challenged the ban, and the Ninth Circuit granted a preliminary injunction in their favor.
The City of Los Angeles faced multiple remands from the Ninth Circuit regarding an excessive-fines challenge to their parking fine late-payment fee. The court requested evidence to support the penalty amount, leading to further review of the case.
In a separate case, a federal prisoner in California was attacked by his cellmate, leading to a potential Eighth Amendment violation. The Ninth Circuit ruled that the officers did not have a special right to interlocutory review, allowing the case to proceed.
A Honolulu federal prison inmate who suffered serious injuries due to negligence in medical treatment was granted the ability to proceed with a constitutional claim against federal officers by the Ninth Circuit.
The Ninth Circuit also addressed various gun laws in different establishments, with different rulings based on historical laws.
Additionally, a case involving First Amendment retaliation by a police officer in Rancho Cordova was dismissed by the Ninth Circuit, ruling that the speech was not on a matter of public concern.
Finally, the Tenth Circuit ruled that a prison exercise involving excessive force by federal officers did not qualify for qualified immunity for the official involved.
This week in the Tenth Circuit, it was determined that the state-law tort claims against officers who were acting outside the scope of their employment can proceed individually in federal court without the federal government substituting itself as the defendant.
An Oklahoma man who shot his intoxicated cousin dead after the cousin allegedly knocked his own girlfriend unconscious and then ran at the man “like a linebacker” was charged with three counts, including second-degree murder. The man requested that the jury be instructed that he had no duty to retreat before using force in self-defense. In the Tenth Circuit, it was decided that this instruction should have been given, leading to the convictions being reversed and remanded for a new trial.
In another case, a Colorado assistant principal expressed reservations about an upcoming high school production of The Laramie Project and offered to add a “Christian perspective” on the issue. He was immediately put on leave and then fired. The Tenth Circuit ruled that he had plausibly alleged that he was discriminated against because of his religion.
The question of whether talk therapy constitutes “speech” under the First Amendment was addressed by the Tenth Circuit, which sided with the Ninth Circuit on this issue. This decision is particularly significant as three Justices had previously indicated they would have granted certiorari on this matter.
En banc news included the First Circuit refusing to reconsider its decision on whether backpacks are covered by the search incident to arrest exception, with six judges expressing a desire for the issue to be addressed by the Supreme Court. The Fifth Circuit also announced it would reconsider its decision on the appealability of waiver-based remand orders.
A new cert petition raises the question of whether a statute restricts speech or nonspeech conduct, with the Ninth Circuit taking a unique approach. The petition argues that this approach conflicts with recent Supreme Court precedent and creates a circuit split on an issue of national importance.
