Please enjoy the latest edition of Short Circuit, a weekly feature written by a bunch of people at the Institute for Justice.
New cert petition! One might think that, in determining whether a statute restricts speech or restricts nonspeech conduct (a question that tends to matter a great deal in First Amendment cases), courts should ask whether the statute … restricts speech? Or whether it restricts nonspeech conduct? Fourth Circuit: Wildcard! Let's instead use a "non-exhaustive list of factors" combined with a brand-new level of "loosened," "quite different," and "more relaxed" constitutional scrutiny. Read the cert petition to learn why the Fourth Circuit's approach is decidedly not cricket and entrenches a circuit split on a question of nationwide importance.
