Short Circuit: A Roundup of Recent Federal Court Decisions
Please enjoy the latest edition of Short Circuit, a weekly feature written by a bunch of people at the Institute for Justice.
New on the Short Circuit podcast: IJ attorney and special guest host Josh Windham interviews Anthony Sanders, your regular host, about his smashing new book Baby Ninth Amendments.
And less new but still pretty new on the Short Circuit podcast: a special episode on the unwritten UK Constitution with two sceptical scholars from across the pond.
- Man is involuntarily committed after threatening to kill a U.S. congressman. Years later, he’s conditionally discharged, and though he breaks lots of rules at his halfway house, it’s not obvious the violations mean he’s especially likely to be dangerous to the public. Recommit him? Fourth Circuit: “While there have been profound developments in the science of risk assessment in the past three decades, they are unmatched by updated, corresponding legal guidance respecting how the inquiry ought to proceed for those under a federal civil commitment order. We thus write at some length.”
- Indian sailor working for Singaporean company contracts malaria in Gabon leading to the amputation of his gangrenous toes in Rio de Janeiro before his eventual return to India. He sues under the Jones Act, alleging that when the ship put into Savannah, Ga., it failed to stock up on anti-malarial medicine. The company evades process for 15 months before suing him in India, where he is denied a lawyer and jailed for continuing his American suit. Fifth Circuit (over a dissent): The district court properly enjoined the shipping company from continuing its suit in India.
- This week on Nondelegation Doctrine Watch we journey to the Sixth Circuit, where a coalition of consumers, a nonprofit, and a carrier challenged how the FCC funds the Universal Service Program, Congress’s method of ensuring all Americans can reach out and touch someone. The challengers claimed the scheme lacks an “intelligible principle” and that the outfit that calculates the program’s fees is a private entity impermissibly wielding government power. To their arguments the court replied: “We disagree and DENY the petition for review.”
- Man who served as a lookout during a string of armed robberies of Detroit-area RadioShacks and T-Mobile stores wins at SCOTUS! The gov’t’s acquisition of his cell-site records was unconstitutional. But! Due to the good-faith exception to the exclusiona
Article from Reason.com
