Jed H. Shugerman
@jedshug.bsky.social
Prof Boston U. Law. JD/PhD History & dad jokes.
5th most-cited legal historian, 2019-23
Book: The People’s Courts. Next: A Faithful President: The Founders v. the Originalists
http://shugerblog.com
http://ssrn.com/author=625422
5th most-cited legal historian, 2019-23
Book: The People’s Courts. Next: A Faithful President: The Founders v. the Originalists
http://shugerblog.com
http://ssrn.com/author=625422
Pinned
Jed H. Shugerman
@jedshug.bsky.social
· Sep 25
The Fed, Offices as Property, and the Meaning of "Cause"
The Federal Reserve Act states that "each member shall hold office for a term of fourteen years from the expiration of the term of his predecessor, unless
papers.ssrn.com
I filed an amicus brief in Trump v. Cook (the emergency appeal over the firing of Fed Governor Lisa Cook) with @democracyforward.org, who did amazing work editing & filing on a tight lightning docket schedule.
Special thanks to @janemanners.bsky.social
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Special thanks to @janemanners.bsky.social
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Yep, AI is now super reliable in reporting very basic facts and generating coherent sentences.
(Even if you're not a sports fan, see if you can spot the sentence with the obvious factual/mathematical contradiction).
(Even if you're not a sports fan, see if you can spot the sentence with the obvious factual/mathematical contradiction).
December 19, 2025 at 3:27 PM
Yep, AI is now super reliable in reporting very basic facts and generating coherent sentences.
(Even if you're not a sports fan, see if you can spot the sentence with the obvious factual/mathematical contradiction).
(Even if you're not a sports fan, see if you can spot the sentence with the obvious factual/mathematical contradiction).
The coincidence of Rob Reiner's death and SCOTUS oral arguments got me thinking:
The Roberts Court seems to have a Colonel Nathan Jessup theory of presidentialism:
They want immunity & unchecked power on that Wall.
They NEED immunity & unchecked power on that Wall.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FnO...
The Roberts Court seems to have a Colonel Nathan Jessup theory of presidentialism:
They want immunity & unchecked power on that Wall.
They NEED immunity & unchecked power on that Wall.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FnO...
You Can't Handle the Truth! - A Few Good Men (7/8) Movie CLIP (1992) HD
YouTube video by Movieclips
www.youtube.com
December 18, 2025 at 4:36 PM
The coincidence of Rob Reiner's death and SCOTUS oral arguments got me thinking:
The Roberts Court seems to have a Colonel Nathan Jessup theory of presidentialism:
They want immunity & unchecked power on that Wall.
They NEED immunity & unchecked power on that Wall.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FnO...
The Roberts Court seems to have a Colonel Nathan Jessup theory of presidentialism:
They want immunity & unchecked power on that Wall.
They NEED immunity & unchecked power on that Wall.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FnO...
Public service announcement:
None of the Jews you know are ambassadors from the state of Israel.
We are no more responsible for the Israeli govt than you are for the Russian or British govt or the Palestinian Authority...
Don't ask us to make a special declaration or whatever to end this conflict.
None of the Jews you know are ambassadors from the state of Israel.
We are no more responsible for the Israeli govt than you are for the Russian or British govt or the Palestinian Authority...
Don't ask us to make a special declaration or whatever to end this conflict.
+1.
Yes, I have experienced this kind of request.
From a law professor.
As if I were the ambassador from the state of Israel because I wear a kipa.
Yes, I have experienced this kind of request.
From a law professor.
As if I were the ambassador from the state of Israel because I wear a kipa.
December 18, 2025 at 2:54 PM
Public service announcement:
None of the Jews you know are ambassadors from the state of Israel.
We are no more responsible for the Israeli govt than you are for the Russian or British govt or the Palestinian Authority...
Don't ask us to make a special declaration or whatever to end this conflict.
None of the Jews you know are ambassadors from the state of Israel.
We are no more responsible for the Israeli govt than you are for the Russian or British govt or the Palestinian Authority...
Don't ask us to make a special declaration or whatever to end this conflict.
Reposted by Jed H. Shugerman
Shockingly normal experience for Jews
Australians found my post about this being a shitty Hanukkah and are now informing that if I personally ask Netanyahu (who will listen to me) to stop committing genocide against Palestinians, then random Jews around the world won't be shot anymore.
December 18, 2025 at 12:06 PM
Shockingly normal experience for Jews
Reposted by Jed H. Shugerman
Lazy Sunday left such a gargantuan footprint, few remember that the same episode featured this absolute banger from Robert Smigel and friends:
TV Funhouse: Christmastime For The Jews - SNL
YouTube video by Saturday Night Live
www.youtube.com
December 18, 2025 at 1:33 AM
Lazy Sunday left such a gargantuan footprint, few remember that the same episode featured this absolute banger from Robert Smigel and friends:
Reposted by Jed H. Shugerman
Good discussion between @jedshug.bsky.social and Tom Berry of Cato. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/w...
Can President Trump Fire a Federal Trade Commissioner Without Cause?
Podcast Episode · We the People · 12/11/2025 · 1h 7m
podcasts.apple.com
December 17, 2025 at 7:01 PM
Good discussion between @jedshug.bsky.social and Tom Berry of Cato. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/w...
Reposted by Jed H. Shugerman
Thanks so much to Jeffrey Rosen for having me on the @constitutionctr.bsky.social's We the People Podcast to debate the Trump v. Slaughter case with Professor @jedshug.bsky.social, it was a great conversation (link in reply).
December 15, 2025 at 5:12 PM
Thanks so much to Jeffrey Rosen for having me on the @constitutionctr.bsky.social's We the People Podcast to debate the Trump v. Slaughter case with Professor @jedshug.bsky.social, it was a great conversation (link in reply).
Reposted by Jed H. Shugerman
A Few Good Men. Best in Show. A Mighty Wind. Miss Congeniality. Barcelona. All three movies in Linklater's "Before" trilogy. Music & Lyrics. Michael Clayton. All films that were able to be made because of the production company Reiner co-founded in order to give talented filmmakers creative freedom.
without Rob Reiner’s Castle Rock production company we wouldn’t have:
City Slickers, Honeymoon in Vegas, In the Line of Fire, The Shawshank Redemption, Before Sunrise, Dolores Claiborne, Lone Star, Waiting for Guffman, and more - in a six-year period alone
City Slickers, Honeymoon in Vegas, In the Line of Fire, The Shawshank Redemption, Before Sunrise, Dolores Claiborne, Lone Star, Waiting for Guffman, and more - in a six-year period alone
December 15, 2025 at 6:31 AM
A Few Good Men. Best in Show. A Mighty Wind. Miss Congeniality. Barcelona. All three movies in Linklater's "Before" trilogy. Music & Lyrics. Michael Clayton. All films that were able to be made because of the production company Reiner co-founded in order to give talented filmmakers creative freedom.
Reposted by Jed H. Shugerman
I kind of like the idea of making it into a homeless shelter instead.
It is important to promise, now, that whatever Trump builds at the White House will be torn down as soon as he leaves.
www.hamiltonnolan.com/p/if-he-buil...
www.hamiltonnolan.com/p/if-he-buil...
If He Builds It, Tear It Down
Pendulums must swing.
www.hamiltonnolan.com
December 14, 2025 at 1:23 AM
I kind of like the idea of making it into a homeless shelter instead.
Reposted by Jed H. Shugerman
You know what? I'm willing to empirically test this as many times as it takes to reach statistical certainty about any conclusions we reach
Michael C. Rockefeller got shipwrecked in 1963, washed up on an island, and was promptly eaten by cannibals.
December 14, 2025 at 12:38 AM
You know what? I'm willing to empirically test this as many times as it takes to reach statistical certainty about any conclusions we reach
Reposted by Jed H. Shugerman
@jedshug.bsky.social just merking the unitary executive out in these streets, in full view.
podcasts.apple.com
December 12, 2025 at 10:34 PM
@jedshug.bsky.social just merking the unitary executive out in these streets, in full view.
Reposted by Jed H. Shugerman
This essay is really good, and really important. Not just saying that bc it confirms my priors
Sunstein posted an admirably frank essay yesterday on the Unitary Executive Theory:
How he participated in this elite bipartisan political consensus —
and how he has been persuaded by overwhelming historical evidence that he & other high-ranking lawyers were wrong.
open.substack.com/pub/casssuns...
How he participated in this elite bipartisan political consensus —
and how he has been persuaded by overwhelming historical evidence that he & other high-ranking lawyers were wrong.
open.substack.com/pub/casssuns...
The Unitary Executive
Notes on how people know things
open.substack.com
December 9, 2025 at 1:19 AM
This essay is really good, and really important. Not just saying that bc it confirms my priors
This is where Agarwal went predictably off the rails.
Seems like relying on a precedent that stands for unchecked maximal presidential power over investigation & enforcement might not be the best argument for...
[checks notes]
**independent agencies that investigate & enforce**
Seems like relying on a precedent that stands for unchecked maximal presidential power over investigation & enforcement might not be the best argument for...
[checks notes]
**independent agencies that investigate & enforce**
35/ Kavanaugh and Gorsuch ask the obvious:
What are the lines around "conclusive and preclusive" if all of these agencies have some core powers that implicate foreign policy?
Like the FTC itself? (T = "TRADE"!)
Doesn't your "rule" mean that the FTC should not be independent?
They make good points.
What are the lines around "conclusive and preclusive" if all of these agencies have some core powers that implicate foreign policy?
Like the FTC itself? (T = "TRADE"!)
Doesn't your "rule" mean that the FTC should not be independent?
They make good points.
December 8, 2025 at 8:16 PM
This is where Agarwal went predictably off the rails.
Seems like relying on a precedent that stands for unchecked maximal presidential power over investigation & enforcement might not be the best argument for...
[checks notes]
**independent agencies that investigate & enforce**
Seems like relying on a precedent that stands for unchecked maximal presidential power over investigation & enforcement might not be the best argument for...
[checks notes]
**independent agencies that investigate & enforce**
Reposted by Jed H. Shugerman
Deepak Gupta has been defending independent agencies—their leaders, structure, and workforce—since the very start of this administration.
Why he wasn’t asked to handle this seminal case is beyond me.
Why he wasn’t asked to handle this seminal case is beyond me.
I assume Amit Agarwal was chosen to defend independent agencies at the Supreme Court today because he's a former Alito and Kavanaugh clerk with a conservative pedigree. But he is doing a very poor job, and I think a progressive advocate with subject matter expertise would've been far more effective.
December 8, 2025 at 4:34 PM
Deepak Gupta has been defending independent agencies—their leaders, structure, and workforce—since the very start of this administration.
Why he wasn’t asked to handle this seminal case is beyond me.
Why he wasn’t asked to handle this seminal case is beyond me.
I’ll attempt to live-skeet the Trump v. Slaughter oral arguments at 10 am.
I might be considered biased b/c I filed amicus briefs in Slaughter & Cook, with particular historical interpretations.
Or I might be considered well-informed.
You can judge for yourself.
See the summary below & a thread…
I might be considered biased b/c I filed amicus briefs in Slaughter & Cook, with particular historical interpretations.
Or I might be considered well-informed.
You can judge for yourself.
See the summary below & a thread…
Helpful and concise Brennan Center preview for today’s big case on the unitary executive oral arguments (against the historical claim of an unchecked presidential removal power)
Annotated Guide to Historical Amicus Briefs in the Slaughter and Cook Removal Cases
www.brennancenter.org/our-work/res...
Annotated Guide to Historical Amicus Briefs in the Slaughter and Cook Removal Cases
www.brennancenter.org/our-work/res...
Annotated Guide to Historical Amicus Briefs in the Slaughter and Cook Removal Cases
As the Supreme Court prepares to hear arguments in two cases challenging the removal of independent agency heads, several historians and legal scholars have filed friend-of-the-court briefs focused on...
www.brennancenter.org
December 8, 2025 at 2:33 PM
I’ll attempt to live-skeet the Trump v. Slaughter oral arguments at 10 am.
I might be considered biased b/c I filed amicus briefs in Slaughter & Cook, with particular historical interpretations.
Or I might be considered well-informed.
You can judge for yourself.
See the summary below & a thread…
I might be considered biased b/c I filed amicus briefs in Slaughter & Cook, with particular historical interpretations.
Or I might be considered well-informed.
You can judge for yourself.
See the summary below & a thread…
Helpful and concise Brennan Center preview for today’s big case on the unitary executive oral arguments (against the historical claim of an unchecked presidential removal power)
Annotated Guide to Historical Amicus Briefs in the Slaughter and Cook Removal Cases
www.brennancenter.org/our-work/res...
Annotated Guide to Historical Amicus Briefs in the Slaughter and Cook Removal Cases
www.brennancenter.org/our-work/res...
Annotated Guide to Historical Amicus Briefs in the Slaughter and Cook Removal Cases
As the Supreme Court prepares to hear arguments in two cases challenging the removal of independent agency heads, several historians and legal scholars have filed friend-of-the-court briefs focused on...
www.brennancenter.org
December 8, 2025 at 1:53 PM
Helpful and concise Brennan Center preview for today’s big case on the unitary executive oral arguments (against the historical claim of an unchecked presidential removal power)
Annotated Guide to Historical Amicus Briefs in the Slaughter and Cook Removal Cases
www.brennancenter.org/our-work/res...
Annotated Guide to Historical Amicus Briefs in the Slaughter and Cook Removal Cases
www.brennancenter.org/our-work/res...
Reposted by Jed H. Shugerman
On the Slaughter case + birthright citizens @katemasur.bsky.social @marthasjones.bsky.social @jedshug.bsky.social @vicnourse.bsky.social @fordhamlawnyc.bsky.social @georgetownlaw.bsky.social
open.substack.com/pub/feliciak...
open.substack.com/pub/feliciak...
History Teaches . . . But the Supreme Court Doesn't Learn
Presidents' Power over Independent Agencies, Birthright Citizenship, & what they just don't want to know
open.substack.com
December 8, 2025 at 1:28 PM
On the Slaughter case + birthright citizens @katemasur.bsky.social @marthasjones.bsky.social @jedshug.bsky.social @vicnourse.bsky.social @fordhamlawnyc.bsky.social @georgetownlaw.bsky.social
open.substack.com/pub/feliciak...
open.substack.com/pub/feliciak...
Sunstein posted an admirably frank essay yesterday on the Unitary Executive Theory:
How he participated in this elite bipartisan political consensus —
and how he has been persuaded by overwhelming historical evidence that he & other high-ranking lawyers were wrong.
open.substack.com/pub/casssuns...
How he participated in this elite bipartisan political consensus —
and how he has been persuaded by overwhelming historical evidence that he & other high-ranking lawyers were wrong.
open.substack.com/pub/casssuns...
The Unitary Executive
Notes on how people know things
open.substack.com
December 8, 2025 at 12:19 PM
Sunstein posted an admirably frank essay yesterday on the Unitary Executive Theory:
How he participated in this elite bipartisan political consensus —
and how he has been persuaded by overwhelming historical evidence that he & other high-ranking lawyers were wrong.
open.substack.com/pub/casssuns...
How he participated in this elite bipartisan political consensus —
and how he has been persuaded by overwhelming historical evidence that he & other high-ranking lawyers were wrong.
open.substack.com/pub/casssuns...
Reposted by Jed H. Shugerman
Read this: www.wgbh.org/news/local/2...
December 7, 2025 at 12:22 AM
Read this: www.wgbh.org/news/local/2...
Reposted by Jed H. Shugerman
Frank Gehry, legendary Canadian-American architect, dies aged 96
Frank Gehry, legendary Canadian-American architect, dies aged 96
The architect, whose work included the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao and the Walt Disney Concert Hall in LA, died after a brief illness
Frank Gehry, one of the most influential and distinctive talents in American architecture, died on Friday at his home in Los Angeles following a brief respiratory illness, his chief of staff confirmed. He was 96.
Gehry, the most recognizable American architect since Frank Lloyd Wright, was one of the first to embrace the potential of computer design, and pioneered a distinctively exuberant style of bravura power, whimsical and arresting collisions of form. His most famous work remains the Guggenheim Museumin Bilbao, a fantastical, titanium-clad composition on the Nervión River which received international acclaim upon its opening in 1997, heralding a new era of emotive architecture. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
December 5, 2025 at 9:40 PM
Frank Gehry, legendary Canadian-American architect, dies aged 96
Reposted by Jed H. Shugerman
New to @ssrn.bsky.social: Bill Eskridge and I have posted The Unitary Executive and the Due Process State (Notre Dame L. Rev. Reflection, forthcoming). This essay explores what's at stake for administrative justice as the Supreme Court reconsiders Humphrey's Executor. Link below⬇️
December 2, 2025 at 8:37 PM
New to @ssrn.bsky.social: Bill Eskridge and I have posted The Unitary Executive and the Due Process State (Notre Dame L. Rev. Reflection, forthcoming). This essay explores what's at stake for administrative justice as the Supreme Court reconsiders Humphrey's Executor. Link below⬇️
Reposted by Jed H. Shugerman
We really are heading into Article I Hive Mind status on BlueSky. Me, this morning: the Necessary and Proper Clause is the foundation for Congress’s ability to engage in creative design. @beaubaumann.bsky.social and @jedshug.bsky.social’s incredibly researched and thought out paper: ditto.
(1) New essay and blog post up that are coauthored with the great @jedshug.bsky.social We bring together a decade of scholarship to argue that the quasi-judicial category is both consistent w/ original public meaning and synonymous with a deeper Anglo-American “history and tradition.”
Quasi-Judicial: A History and Tradition
<div>
<p><span>In the process of bulldozing the unitary executive theory, scholars have made several seemingly unrelated discoveries. First, "judicial&quo
papers.ssrn.com
December 5, 2025 at 4:20 PM
We really are heading into Article I Hive Mind status on BlueSky. Me, this morning: the Necessary and Proper Clause is the foundation for Congress’s ability to engage in creative design. @beaubaumann.bsky.social and @jedshug.bsky.social’s incredibly researched and thought out paper: ditto.
Reposted by Jed H. Shugerman
(1) New essay and blog post up that are coauthored with the great @jedshug.bsky.social We bring together a decade of scholarship to argue that the quasi-judicial category is both consistent w/ original public meaning and synonymous with a deeper Anglo-American “history and tradition.”
Quasi-Judicial: A History and Tradition
<div>
<p><span>In the process of bulldozing the unitary executive theory, scholars have made several seemingly unrelated discoveries. First, "judicial&quo
papers.ssrn.com
December 5, 2025 at 12:10 PM
(1) New essay and blog post up that are coauthored with the great @jedshug.bsky.social We bring together a decade of scholarship to argue that the quasi-judicial category is both consistent w/ original public meaning and synonymous with a deeper Anglo-American “history and tradition.”
Reposted by Jed H. Shugerman
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.
December 5, 2025 at 2:24 PM
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.
Reposted by Jed H. Shugerman
They’re killing people as a twitter joke. It’s depraved. Can’t let yourself lose the capacity to be appalled and disgusted and outraged by this.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announces another boat strike in response to a request/wish from Turning Point USA’s Andrew Kolvet.
December 5, 2025 at 2:28 AM
They’re killing people as a twitter joke. It’s depraved. Can’t let yourself lose the capacity to be appalled and disgusted and outraged by this.