Short Circuit: A Roundup of Recent Federal Court Decisions

The First Circuit has staked out a bold preference for contrasting judges with ferrets.

Muslim member of the Fairfax County , Va. school board is pulled over for running a red light.

Fourth Circuit , caring about procedure: District courts can't just deny a preliminary injunction without explaining their reasoning.

Inmate: Prison officials ignored my letters informing them that people were smoking inside, thus exposing me to high levels of secondhand smoke.

A member of Louisiana 's mandatory state bar association sues, alleging a violation of his First Amendment rights.

The Fifth Circuit : You shouldn't be forced to pay for advocacy that's germane to the bar association's purpose.

A judge in Burleson County , Texas , allegedly sexually assaulted a county-attorney clerk on several occasions.

Tesla requires certain line workers to wear uniforms to cut down on "mutilations" of products.

Jay Fink helps Californians flag deceptive spam emails that might be actionable in court.

California 's calling him an unlicensed private detective. The state wants him to work for 6,000 hours before he can get back to reviewing junk mail. A First Amendment violation? You decide!.