iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Fred Jacob @fredbjacob.bsky.social · 01/07/2026

Now that we've had a couple of days with Slaughter, some thoughts to build on my article, Zones of Independence at the NLRB after Humphrey's Executor. (Read it here! ssrn.com/abstract=633...

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Fred Jacob @fredbjacob.bsky.social · 29/06/2026

Forthcoming in the Administrative Law Review this fall, I contend that the Due Process Clause protects agency officials from political interference in adjudication. While the end of independence is a mixed bag at best, the Constitution guarantees that politics must not enter the courthouse door.

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Fred Jacob @fredbjacob.bsky.social · 01/06/2026

One question and one observation: (1) are the sheep trained to *be* herded or is this pure prey/predator instinct? (2) this guy on my couch definitely has his own agenda:

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Fred Jacob @fredbjacob.bsky.social · 06/05/2026

Ok if I show up and fawn over “DESTROY!”?

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Fred Jacob @fredbjacob.bsky.social · 05/05/2026

As a poor student, I definitely couldn't afford the original art (to my dismay!), but we did make a t-shirt. The best thing I've ever done with AI is to sharpen the crummy photo of my faded tee to make the image look almost as good as new!

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Fred Jacob @fredbjacob.bsky.social · 05/05/2026

In 1989, I helped run the @brandeisuniversity.bsky.social comic-con, and the amazing comic artist Paul Smith contributed an illustration for our charity auction, which was raising money for adult literacy organizations.

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Fred Jacob @fredbjacob.bsky.social · 01/04/2026

Finally, the Jews fled Egypt in the "greatest walk-out in history." Here's to freedom from tyranny and to self-determination for us all. Happy Passover!

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Fred Jacob @fredbjacob.bsky.social · 01/04/2026

Produced for Operation Dixie, the CIO's post-war effort to organize the South, the comic retconned bibilical tales into stories of worker empowerment. My favorite is its retelling of the Passover story -- Pharoah refusing "to bargain in good faith" and ordering an unfair "speed-up."

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Fred Jacob @fredbjacob.bsky.social · 01/04/2026

In celebration of the first night of Passover, I offer the CIO's 1945 comic book, "The Bible and the Working Man."

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Fred Jacob @fredbjacob.bsky.social · 01/04/2026

Finally, the Jews fled Egypt in the "greatest walk-out in history." Here's to freedom from tyranny and to self-determination for us all. Happy Passover!

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Fred Jacob @fredbjacob.bsky.social · 17/02/2026

I'm trilled to announce that my new article, "Zones of Independence at the National Labor Relations Board after Humphrey's Executor," is slated for publication in the Administrative Law Review this September.

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Fred Jacob @fredbjacob.bsky.social · 25/12/2025

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!

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Fred Jacob @fredbjacob.bsky.social · 08/12/2025

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.)

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Fred Jacob @fredbjacob.bsky.social · 27/11/2025

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).

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Fred Jacob @fredbjacob.bsky.social · 22/10/2025

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

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Fred Jacob @fredbjacob.bsky.social · 21/10/2025

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 lerachicagochapter@gmail.com.

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Fred Jacob @fredbjacob.bsky.social · 22/08/2025

There’s a story about Chief Justice Burger criticizing lawyers who appeared before the Court with button down collars because they were too casual! www.law.com/article/almI...

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Fred Jacob @fredbjacob.bsky.social · 11/07/2025

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…

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Fred Jacob @fredbjacob.bsky.social · 07/07/2025

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!

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Fred Jacob @fredbjacob.bsky.social · 27/06/2025

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

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Fred Jacob @fredbjacob.bsky.social · 06/06/2025

(Congress repealed this provision of the NLRA in 1959—perhaps because it was constitutionally questionable or perhaps because it had already done its job of rooting out communists from American labor.)

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Fred Jacob @fredbjacob.bsky.social · 06/06/2025

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.

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Fred Jacob @fredbjacob.bsky.social · 30/05/2025

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.

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Fred Jacob @fredbjacob.bsky.social · 23/05/2025

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

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Fred Jacob @fredbjacob.bsky.social · 21/05/2025

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

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Fred Jacob @fredbjacob.bsky.social · 10/05/2025

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.

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Fred Jacob @fredbjacob.bsky.social · 13/04/2025

Despite the challenges for the NLRA ahead, and the changes to the NLRB they may bring, the Board and its dedicated workforce will continue to stand ready to protect those rights. I’m proud to be part of that mission.

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Fred Jacob @fredbjacob.bsky.social · 13/04/2025

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.

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Fred Jacob @fredbjacob.bsky.social · 28/03/2025

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...

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Fred Jacob @fredbjacob.bsky.social · 20/03/2025

7m Best Star Trek crew, wrong answers only.

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Fred Jacob @fredbjacob.bsky.social · 11/02/2025

Congress wanted labor policy to be made by experts, not generalists. Courts have recognized the Board's delegated discretion for decades, which Loper Bright does not call into question.

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Fred Jacob @fredbjacob.bsky.social · 11/02/2025

We contend that the Board's special alchemy of common-law-style decisionmaking--which we call "iterative construction"--falls outside of the judiciary's de novo review.

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Fred Jacob @fredbjacob.bsky.social · 11/02/2025

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

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Fred Jacob @fredbjacob.bsky.social · 17/01/2025

Highly recommend @josephamccartin.bsky.social's Collision Course, which was indispensable reading for me when I took a leading role in federal sector labor relations. global.oup.com/academic/pro...

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Fred Jacob @fredbjacob.bsky.social · 06/01/2025

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

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Fred Jacob @fredbjacob.bsky.social · 30/12/2024

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

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Fred Jacob @fredbjacob.bsky.social · 27/12/2024

Chanukah gift for labor nerd. Lucky me!

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Fred Jacob @fredbjacob.bsky.social · 12/12/2024

How have I never read this book, when the third section is all about the New Deal NLRB?

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Fred Jacob @fredbjacob.bsky.social · 10/12/2024

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)

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Fred Jacob @fredbjacob.bsky.social · 10/12/2024

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!

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