Short Circuit 359 | Net Neutrality Flip Flops

A lot going on this week, including a lot of Short Circuit news. On the law side we talk about two recent opinions, one from the Fourth Circuit and one from the Sixth. Jeff Rowes of IJ explains the latest on abstention—Pullman abstention in this instance—where federal courts don’t do their job because state law is complicated. The Fourth Circuit said it wasn’t complicated enough, though, and allowed a religious liberties lawsuit to go forward. Then, IJ’s Brian Morris explains the latest news on net neutrality rules and why the FCC doesn’t get to decide them anymore. The Sixth Circuit won the lottery—literally—on where challenges to the latest rules would go. And once the challenges got there the panel of judges were not very impressed. There’s some discussion of the new post-Chevron world of Loper Bright, plus some discussion of how the internet worked in 1996, when Congress last spoke on this issue. Finally, we close with a reprise of a show we did a year ago about the Scottish poet Robert Burns! A real Scotswoman joins us to recite Burns’s “A Man’s a Man for A’ That.” But the biggest news this week is our 10th Anniversary! Join us to celebrate ten years of Short Circuit on Thursday, April 3, 2025 in Washington, D.C. The show (and party) will feature a slew of folks from IJ plus retired judges Diane Wood (Seventh Circuit) and Kent Jordan (Third Circuit), Adam Liptak of the New York Times, Professor Eugene Volokh, Dean of #AppellateTwitter Raffi Melkonian, and our old friend Clark Neily, now at the Cato Institute. We have a lot of seats, but they may go fast. Register here today! W.V. Parents for Religious Freedom v. Waldron In re: MCP No. 185 Railroad Comm. v. Pullman Loper Bright Enter. v. Raimondo Short Circuit 308: Burns Night A Man’s a Man for A’ That