Short Circuit 177 | When Are Judges “Too Cool?”

How many pop culture references can a judge make in an opinion before we start to cringe? “Dean” of #AppellateTwitter Raffi Melkonian joins us to give his thoughts on a recent Ninth Circuit case that perhaps broke the all-time record for “coolness,” perhaps to such an extent that it got in the way of its own underlying legal argument. Plus, Diana Simpson looks at another case from the Left Coast, trying to thread the needle on whether “Your right to remain silent” is a “constitutional right” or merely a “constitutional rule.” What’s the difference? We’re not really sure.

Transcript: https://ij.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Short-Circuit-177_otter.ai-FINAL.pdf

Tekoh v. County of Los Angeles (en banc), https://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2021/06/03/18-56414.pdf

Tekoh v. County of Los Angeles (panel opinion), https://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2021/01/15/18-56414.pdf

Briseno v. Henderson, https://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2021/06/01/19-56297.pdf

McCaughtry v. City of Red Wing (Phil Simms quote), https://casetext.com/case/mccaughtry-v-city-of-red-wing-3

Raffi Melkonian, https://www.wrightclosebarger.com/attorneys/raffi-melkonian/

Diana Simpson, https://ij.org/staff/diana-simpson/

Anthony Sanders, https://ij.org/staff/asanders/

iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/short-circuit/id309062019

Spotify: https://podcasters.spotify.com/podcast/1DFCqDbZTI7kIws11kEhed/overview

Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/institute-for-justice/short-circuit

Google: https://play.google.com/music/listen?u=0#/ps/Iz26kyzdcpodkfm5cpz7rlvf76a

Newsletter: ij.org/about-us/shortcircuit/

Want to email us? shortcircuit@ij.org