Short Circuit 429 | A Fifth of Circuit
From Short Circuit by Institute for Justice
May 22, 2026 · 59 min
About this episode
The episode explores the Fifth Circuit's recent cases and the implications of the False Claims Act with guest Jessica Underwood.
In our #12Months12Circuits series it’s time to drink an entire Fifth. Now, regular listeners will be very familiar with the Fifth Circuit’s waters and may hesitate from such an undertaking. But true fans of the federal courts of appeals should be pleased, as we take an even closer look than we have before at the ins-and-outs of the federal circuit for Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas. To help us we welcome on Jessica Underwood, a former Fifth Circuit clerk and now an attorney in Austin, Texas. She reports on a recent Fifth Circuit case on the False Claims Act, explains what the FCA does, and how it accounts for billions of dollars in litigation. In addition to discussing the court’s analysis of what makes for a proper FCA claim, Jessica digs into a concurrence that argues the FCA might be unconstitutional. Then, IJ’s Christie Hebert tells us of another recent Fifth Circuit opinion, this one about a guy who made a living transmitting public data about criminal defendants to potential defense attorneys. That worked well until the court started making some of the information private. Did he have a claim? No, it turns out. But the discussion gets into how the First Amendment might…
People in this episode
Host: Institute for Justice
Guest: Jessica Underwood
Topics covered
- Fifth Circuit
- False Claims Act
- First Amendment
- federal courts
- legal analysis
Keywords
- Fifth Circuit
- False Claims Act
- First Amendment
- legal cases
- federal courts
Mentioned in this episode
Books & works: Montcrief v. Peripheral Vascular Assocs., Martin v. Burgess
Places: Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas
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