Short Circuit 412 | “Nothing to see here”

Lovers of municipal crime and corruption—and internal affairs departments not doing their jobs—may enjoy the stories this week from Detroit and Baltimore. First, Kirby Thomas West of IJ reports on a Sixth Circuit case where a towing company was a little too good at finding cars to tow after they had been stolen. It turns out the towing company was in contact with a ring of car thieves, who would give it a head’s up after a theft, allowing it to then cash in on towing fees from the city. The company had its license pulled and then sued, claiming a due process violation. And it won! A dollar. Otherwise, the court concluded that the city’s pulling of its license for working with car thieves was incredibly justified. There’s also an internal investigation in the city that found nothing wrong, and which the court was not happy about. Then IJ’s Carl Wu details a Fourth Circuit case that started with a punch up at a bachelorette party that then got really complicated. Fans of HBO’s The Wire will find many familiar facts and practices concerning Baltimore’s finest. A fight at the party leads to an off-duty police officer being disciplined and fired. She then brings a lawsuit alleging racial discrimination and a First Amendment violation. There’s all kinds of bad behavior of other cops that becomes relevant, including failures to fire cops who have done much worse. The court allows the case to go forward despite an internal investigation that pinned the blame on the officer, and which perhaps was not the most thorough. Finally, we begin a series for 2026: #12Months12Circuits. We’re giving a little background on each circuit, once a month, starting with, which else, the First. It’s a “little baby circuit” in New England. Click here for transcript. Nationwide v. Detroit Johnson v. Baltimore IJ’s Detroit forfeiture case