What's old is new again: As in 1948, hoping Santa loads your stockings with civil rights, full and fair employment, low-cost housing, lower prices, and fair labor laws. Happy holidays to you all!

Without commenting on substance, the most surprising thing about attending argument in Trump v. Slaughter in person this morning was how short the bar line was to get in! Doesn’t everyone find admin law as exciting as I do? (Spring photo for algorithm.)

Thanks @emilysbremer.bsky.social, @beaubaumann.bsky.social, @jedshug.bsky.social, for dropping great papers in the last couple of days about Humphrey's Executor and administrative adjudication that perfectly fill those pesky "ADD CITE HERE" footnotes in my current article draft.

From 1950 to today, we still strive for jobs we can be thankful for. Happy Thanksgiving to you all, and especially to the public servants who make the promise of a better life real for our country and its people every working day. (Image courtesy of the National Labor Service, AJC Archives).

That feeling when you're writing an article, have a great idea, then find someone who has reached the same conclusion, and you don't know whether that's good because it reinforces your point or bad because it might look like you're "borrowing" their idea...

More dissents like this please. Short, punchy, and to the point.

Lawyer and labor friends: Thursday! Thursday! Thursday! At the Thunderdome! "The Role of Unions and Labor-Management Relations in Promoting American Democracy"! Okay, not at the Thunderdome, but on Zoom! To register, email [email protected].

The right-wing backlash against #Superman this week got me thinking: Has this happened before? That led to the discovery of these headline — from April 1940, when the official newspaper of the SS took umbrage at the comic book hero and ridiculed its creators. My how times change ...

So excited to read this 1968 biography of Senator Robert Wagner, the legislative father of the New Deal. It arrived on my doorstep yesterday thanks to unionized federal postal workers, whose representation wouldn’t have been possible without Senator Wagner’s National Labor Relations Act…

In 1958, NLRB Chair Boyd Leedom penned an article opposing judicializing administrative process by creating an Article III administrative court. Interesting stuff, given today’s debates. Far cooler, though, is that the NLRB library’s copy of the article is autographed! Leedom v. Kyne nerds unite!

I don’t know who put these in the break room, but my dentist and I thank you.

This is how union officials filed an anti-communist affidavit with the NLRB in 1954, in case you were wondering. If they didn’t, their union lost its right to file for NLRB election petitions or unfair labor practice charges.

Labor law and NLRB stans, from the depths of the NLRB library, I bring you “Washington World” magazine’s September 1963 primer on the Labor Board. I like the headline, “NLRB bans unfairness by boss or worker.” Just doing our jobs, ma’am.

Professors friends who teach Labor and Constitutional Law, here’s your next exam question for *both* classes, courtesy of the Seattle Chief of Police, circa 1935. @charlottegarden.bsky.social @matthewtbodie.bsky.social @alvinvelazquez.bsky.social @patsobkowski.com @cincyannie.bsky.social

Adlaw nerds: contemporaneous coverage of Humphrey’s Executor, as found in a homemade scrapbook of labor unrest from 1935 tucked away in the NLRB library. @jedshug.bsky.social @emilysbremer.bsky.social @tphillips.bsky.social @kexelchabot.bsky.social @charlottegarden.bsky.social

As a 2L in law school, I wrote Justice Souter a fawning fan letter about his concurrence in a seminal free exercise case, Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye. Rather than ignore it, he actually responded—validating this young wannabe lawyer’s voice and encouraging me to keep speaking.

Attn #adlaw nerds: Join Us on May 8, 2025, for the ABA Administrative Law Scholarship Conference -- 30 papers to be workshopped, ~50 scholars presenting and commenting, and plenty of time to socialize. Complimentary registration details here: www.yalejreg.com/nc/join-us-o...

Today is the 88th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision affirming the constitutionality of the National Labor Relations Act, providing American workers the right to workplace democracy.

Calling @annapeppard.bsky.social: Nightcrawler cosplay @AwesomeCon DC.

So flattering to see my essay on the major questions doctrine called “clever” by the far-cleverer @beaubaumann.bsky.social in his new MQD round-up. Here’s my piece; please send your thoughts: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.... You should read Beau’s round-up too! www.yalejreg.com/nc/a-major-q...

7m Best Star Trek crew, wrong answers only.

This may be interest to admin law peeps too. (“You got your labor in my admin; no, you got your admin in my labor.”) papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.... @bridgetdooling.bsky.social @khickmanjd.bsky.social @patsobkowski.com @emilysbremer.bsky.social @profdanwalters.bsky.social @kexelchabot.bsky.social

Also, for those of you who like your TV with a dose of labor (I'm talking about you, @solongdentalplan.com)

Anne Lofaso (@cincyannie.bsky.social) and I have just posted our paper, Beyond Loper Bright: Iterative Construction at the National Labor Relations Board.

!!! I don't know anything about football, but as a labor law professor, I think I'm now obligated to become an Eagles fan

President Trump Appoints Willam B. Cowen Acting General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board www.nlrb.gov/news-outreac...

Wow! I never thought I'd be asked to write about The Nanny, crossing picket lines, and the tradition of strong Jewish union women, so I'm indebted to @solongdentalplan.com for making it happen. If you like TV and labor culture, look for solongdentalplan.com in 2026!

Perhaps my first, and probably my favorite, FF story ever.

Thanks again to @fredbjacob.bsky.social for joining me on Law on Film podcast to discuss John Sayles's masterpiece, "Matewan" and for a deep dive into a critical moment in U.S. labor history. www.buzzsprout.com/2073468/epis...

Parking here for later.

What a delight to be back teaching labor law at GW Law! (Or at least on GW's zoom account. Thanks, snow.)

In case you missed it during the holidays, what's better to do on a snow day than listen to a podcast about labor history, movies, and mine wars? Check out my chat about Matewan with @jonathanhafetz.bsky.social!

As always, @erikloomis.bsky.social delivers a masterful lesson in labor history, this time on mine safety and health. If you like his thread, you may also enjoy my chat with @jonathanhafetz.bsky.social on John Sayles' classic, Matewan, about the WV Mine Wars. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/m...

Any ideas, labor friends?

British phone workers’ strike foils Kitty Pryde. She’s stuck with the X-Babies by herself. (Claremont/Adams, Excalibur Mojo Mayhem, 12/89) @annapeppard.bsky.social

Chanukah gift for labor nerd. Lucky me!

Happy everything, friends!

Partner got me the coolest, nerdiest gift for my office.

When the law doesn't protect labor organizing, there's violence--a lesson as the NLRB is under attack. Hope you'll take an hour to listen to me and @jonathanhafetz.bsky.social discuss Matewan, John Sayles' 1987 masterpiece about the West Virginia Mine Wars. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/m...

No, I haven't watched this three times in the last six minutes. www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhUh...

If you're interested in worker voice, sign up for this fascinating webinar tomorrow sponsored by @urbaninstitute.bsky.social's WorkRise about improving corporate efficiency through worker collaboration. And repost for your friends and colleagues! www.workrisenetwork.org/event/how-bu...

So thrilled for a great public servant.

Thank you for your service, Chairman McFerran!

Q for Admin folks: What's a good, readable history of admin agencies & the development of admin law in the 20th century? I want to place my NLRA love in historical context. TIA! @beaubaumann.bsky.social @bridgetdooling.bsky.social @patsobkowski.com @tphillips.bsky.social @profdanwalters.bsky.social

In 1945, the American Jewish Committee's National Labor Service published this jaunty pamphlet "Discrimination Costs You Money." It's targeted at workers, not employers-reminding them that they do better working together, across racial and ethnic lines than they do apart. Here are pp. 1-3. (1/3)

I have reached that special moment in every young skeeter’s life when the number of people who follow you exceeds the number of people you follow. I hope I prove myself worthy of this honor!

Alert: There is a (very cold) CAMEL in front of the Supreme Court. [Cue Lynch v. Donnelly discussion.]

Tip for writers, especially academics . . .

If you ever wondered, Batman holds a JD from Yale. It’s only because of the Wayne family fortune, of course, that Batman could afford to go into public service. www.yalealumnimagazine.com/articles/311...