Civil Rights Law

Online
Essay
The Specter of a Circuit Split: Isaacson, Bankshot, and § 1983
Quinten J. Rimolde
Quinten J. Rimolde is a J.D. Candidate at The University of Chicago Law School, Class of 2026.

He thanks Will Horvath, Brandon Stras, Graham Kingwill, Professor William Baude, and the entire University of Chicago Law Review Online team.

At first glance, the Ninth Circuit’s decision in Isaacson v. Mayes (2023) set the stage for the perfect law review student comment. It called out the Eleventh Circuit’s decision in Bankshot Billiards, Inc. v. City of Ocala (2011) by name. And the Congressional Research Service listed Bankshot and Isaacson among 2023’s circuit splits. By all accounts, the two circuits had split over a significant issue. They disagreed over whether a party needs to connect its injury to a constitutional right in order to establish standing for claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Only one problem remained: the courts were on the same page. What emerged was the specter of a circuit split.