Benjamin Sachs is the Kestnbaum Professor of Labor and Industry at Harvard Law School and a leading expert in the field of labor law and labor relations. He is also faculty director of the Center for Labor and a Just Economy. Professor Sachs teaches courses in labor law, employment law, and law and social change, and his writing focuses on union organizing and unions in American politics. Prior to joining the Harvard faculty in 2008, Professor Sachs was the Joseph Goldstein Fellow at Yale Law School. From 2002-2006, he served as Assistant General Counsel of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) in Washington, D.C. Professor Sachs graduated from Yale Law School in 1998, and served as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Stephen Reinhardt of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. His writing has appeared in the Harvard Law Review, the Yale Law Journal, the Columbia Law Review, the New York Times and elsewhere. Professor Sachs received the Yale Law School teaching award in 2007 and in 2013 received the Sacks-Freund Award for Teaching Excellence at Harvard Law School. He can be reached at [email protected].
Today on SCOTUSblog, Amy Howe predicted that Justice Alito will author Harris v. Quinn. As Howe put it:
[O]ur predictions are based on the idea that the Justices try to even out the workload not just over the course of the Term, but also from month to month. So the fact that Harris v. Quinn is the only decision left from January and Alito hasn’t written from January yet strongly suggests that he is writing in Harris.
Given Alito’s authorship of Knox v. SEIU, this would likely not be good news for fair share agreements in the public sector. But a reader writes in to OnLabor to report some interesting statistics. This reader:
[L]looked on the Scotusblog statistics archive to see how common it is for a Justice to not write an opinion for a given month. Recently it has happened once or twice per term:
- In 2012-13, it happened 1 month out of 7. Scalia didn’t write in January.
- In 2011-13, it happened 2 months out of 4. Sotomayor didn’t write in October, Thomas didn’t write in December. I didn’t count Feb-April b/c there were fewer than 9 opinions that month.
- In 2010-11, it happened 2 months out of 6. Alito and Sotomayor didn’t write in January, Breyer didn’t write in January, I didn’t count April b/c fewer than 9 opinions.
- In 2009-10, it happened 2 months out of 6. Stevens didn’t write in November, Kennedy didn’t write in December, I didn’t count April.
The reader thus concludes that “[i]f Alito writes Harris, then there won’t be any months this term in which a Justice didn’t write an opinion, except those months where there are fewer than 9 cases,” and that that would be somewhat unusual.
We will know Monday.
Daily News & Commentary
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September 15
Documents reveal the inner workings of Amazon's union avoidance program; Washington state public sector unions reach tentative deals amid a difficult bargaining cycle; hundreds of Nevada Culinary Union members protest their union's health care changes.
September 14
NCAA and Big Ten file motion to dismiss in former star player's NIL suit; Seventh Circuit rules against former postal worker in discrimination suit.
September 13
Documents released on the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks show that city officials encouraged workers to return to Ground Zero despite knowing the risks of asbestos exposure, and new polls demonstrate continued widespread support for labor unions.
September 10
Amazon workers allege pregnancy discrimination; federal unions challenge USDA reorganization; NYC warns of silicosis risks.
September 9
Wynn Las Vegas employees allege anti-union retaliation; Amazon faces a class action over pregnancy accommodations; H-1B demand plunges following a six-figure visa fee.
September 8
In today’s News and Commentary, workers and unions across America celebrate Labor Day, California’s SEIU Local 1000 prepares for a strike authorization vote, and New York City creates the Office of Worker Power. On Monday, labor unions and workers gathered in cities across the United States in celebration of Labor Day. Parades and rallies took […]