Jerry Edwards
@jerryedwards.bsky.social
Associate Professor of Law at West Virginia University College of Law. Formerly an ACLUFL Attorney. I enjoy writing about free expression, academic freedom, and American history.
All opinions are my own, not my employer's, and are correct, probably.
All opinions are my own, not my employer's, and are correct, probably.
Pinned
Jerry Edwards
@jerryedwards.bsky.social
· Aug 15
I am excited to announce that my article, Academic Freedom's Inflection Point, will be published in the Boston College Law Review in 2026. The SSRN link is below. I plan to make revisions to address feedback & new developments (ex. a terrible govt speech opinion). Comments are welcome & appreciated!
Reposted by Jerry Edwards
See ICE wants these cases in Texas, where Trump-infected courts are more tolerant of their antics, more biased against non-citizens, more willing to let DHS fill up concentration camps.
(Not all Texas judges, for sure. Plenty are bravely faithful to the rule of law. ICE is playing the numbers)
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(Not all Texas judges, for sure. Plenty are bravely faithful to the rule of law. ICE is playing the numbers)
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February 11, 2026 at 9:56 PM
See ICE wants these cases in Texas, where Trump-infected courts are more tolerant of their antics, more biased against non-citizens, more willing to let DHS fill up concentration camps.
(Not all Texas judges, for sure. Plenty are bravely faithful to the rule of law. ICE is playing the numbers)
17/
(Not all Texas judges, for sure. Plenty are bravely faithful to the rule of law. ICE is playing the numbers)
17/
Reposted by Jerry Edwards
Meanwhile, DHS shows its contempt for the judiciary in a different way. In dozens, likely now thousands, of cases, DHS openly defies court orders.
Minnesota courts enter orders forbidding ICE from moving noncitizens who’ve filed habeas petitions out of Minnesota. They move them anyway.
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Minnesota courts enter orders forbidding ICE from moving noncitizens who’ve filed habeas petitions out of Minnesota. They move them anyway.
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February 11, 2026 at 9:56 PM
Meanwhile, DHS shows its contempt for the judiciary in a different way. In dozens, likely now thousands, of cases, DHS openly defies court orders.
Minnesota courts enter orders forbidding ICE from moving noncitizens who’ve filed habeas petitions out of Minnesota. They move them anyway.
16/
Minnesota courts enter orders forbidding ICE from moving noncitizens who’ve filed habeas petitions out of Minnesota. They move them anyway.
16/
Reposted by Jerry Edwards
Legal status doesn’t matter: if you exceed ICE’s melanin threshold, you get snatched. It is ethnic cleansing. There is no other word for it.
The news has shown you video of these often violent detentions. What you don’t see is what happens to these individuals after.
I’ve had a front row seat.
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The news has shown you video of these often violent detentions. What you don’t see is what happens to these individuals after.
I’ve had a front row seat.
7/
February 11, 2026 at 9:56 PM
Legal status doesn’t matter: if you exceed ICE’s melanin threshold, you get snatched. It is ethnic cleansing. There is no other word for it.
The news has shown you video of these often violent detentions. What you don’t see is what happens to these individuals after.
I’ve had a front row seat.
7/
The news has shown you video of these often violent detentions. What you don’t see is what happens to these individuals after.
I’ve had a front row seat.
7/
Reposted by Jerry Edwards
I don’t really know what I expect in posting this, but maybe some people see it and can learn from it.
I’ll call it “lessons from an unwilling immigration attorney.”
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I’ll call it “lessons from an unwilling immigration attorney.”
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February 11, 2026 at 9:56 PM
I don’t really know what I expect in posting this, but maybe some people see it and can learn from it.
I’ll call it “lessons from an unwilling immigration attorney.”
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I’ll call it “lessons from an unwilling immigration attorney.”
1/
Reposted by Jerry Edwards
This whole thread. On how ICE and DHS are ignoring orders to release ppl, moving them to Texas to get favorable judges, and holding them—including young children—in absolutely inhumane conditions.
It’s so clear that neither ICE nor DHS are compatible w the rule of law and must be dismantled.
It’s so clear that neither ICE nor DHS are compatible w the rule of law and must be dismantled.
I don’t really know what I expect in posting this, but maybe some people see it and can learn from it.
I’ll call it “lessons from an unwilling immigration attorney.”
1/
I’ll call it “lessons from an unwilling immigration attorney.”
1/
February 12, 2026 at 12:54 PM
This whole thread. On how ICE and DHS are ignoring orders to release ppl, moving them to Texas to get favorable judges, and holding them—including young children—in absolutely inhumane conditions.
It’s so clear that neither ICE nor DHS are compatible w the rule of law and must be dismantled.
It’s so clear that neither ICE nor DHS are compatible w the rule of law and must be dismantled.
Reposted by Jerry Edwards
It’s now official. I’ll be publishing my first book, Respectability Politics, w/ @uchicagopress.bsky.social!
Proud to join a press w/ a strong lineage in Black studies & Black politics, including Cohen’s Boundaries of Blackness, which has deeply inspired my work.
Now to get these revisions done.
Proud to join a press w/ a strong lineage in Black studies & Black politics, including Cohen’s Boundaries of Blackness, which has deeply inspired my work.
Now to get these revisions done.
February 11, 2026 at 7:52 PM
It’s now official. I’ll be publishing my first book, Respectability Politics, w/ @uchicagopress.bsky.social!
Proud to join a press w/ a strong lineage in Black studies & Black politics, including Cohen’s Boundaries of Blackness, which has deeply inspired my work.
Now to get these revisions done.
Proud to join a press w/ a strong lineage in Black studies & Black politics, including Cohen’s Boundaries of Blackness, which has deeply inspired my work.
Now to get these revisions done.
Reposted by Jerry Edwards
oh so just dumb luck these idiots didn’t shoot down a passenger aircraft
According to multiple NYT sources, it wasn’t even military personnel at Fort Bliss that fired an anti-drone laser at alleged cartel drones. It was CBP who used the weapon on loan from DoD against a child’s party balloon they mistook for a drone. The Pentagon gave CBP an anti-aircraft weapon.
February 12, 2026 at 11:36 AM
oh so just dumb luck these idiots didn’t shoot down a passenger aircraft
Reposted by Jerry Edwards
Thrilled that my article Private Governance and Originalism will be published in the Stanford Law Review @stanlrev.bsky.social! The article explains why private groups including schools, corps & other orgs create unique challenges (and opportunities) under originalist "history & tradition" tests
February 11, 2026 at 5:31 PM
Thrilled that my article Private Governance and Originalism will be published in the Stanford Law Review @stanlrev.bsky.social! The article explains why private groups including schools, corps & other orgs create unique challenges (and opportunities) under originalist "history & tradition" tests
Reposted by Jerry Edwards
John Roberts believes that the 14th Amendment is not prevent ice from detaining Americans and sorting them on the basis of race, but it does prevent the University of Michigan from considering past racial discrimination in admissions 🫠
February 12, 2026 at 2:49 AM
John Roberts believes that the 14th Amendment is not prevent ice from detaining Americans and sorting them on the basis of race, but it does prevent the University of Michigan from considering past racial discrimination in admissions 🫠
Reposted by Jerry Edwards
Teaching Loving, Korematsu, Yick Wo, Bakke tmw so I’m deep in prep on govt use of race right as I read this—& whataya know…the 14th Am is meant to prohibit exactly what DHS is doing, unless it’s somehow got a very good reason to do it & only if this is the narrowest way to meet that.
This is the second account - the first being in Chicago - of DHS agents mass detaining people and then *sorting them by race*.
More than 400 people, including hundreds of citizens, were “sorted” at gun point into racial and ethnic groups by 200 ICE agents who fired flash-bang grenades into cars with people inside, pointed guns at children & demanded their zip tied parents not comfort them. apple.news/Ausdx6kWtT0e...
February 12, 2026 at 3:25 AM
Teaching Loving, Korematsu, Yick Wo, Bakke tmw so I’m deep in prep on govt use of race right as I read this—& whataya know…the 14th Am is meant to prohibit exactly what DHS is doing, unless it’s somehow got a very good reason to do it & only if this is the narrowest way to meet that.
Reposted by Jerry Edwards
Reposted by Jerry Edwards
“When Citizens United was decided in 2010, billionaires had spent $18 million on the 2000 election, $13M 2004 and $16M in 2008. Then came the deluge. In 2012 it was $231M, and nearly doubled again in next three election cycles —to $682M in 2016, $1.2 billion in 2020 and $2.6 billion in 2024.” Gift:
Opinion | Affordability and the ‘Epstein Class’ Will Define American Politics
www.nytimes.com
February 12, 2026 at 1:57 AM
“When Citizens United was decided in 2010, billionaires had spent $18 million on the 2000 election, $13M 2004 and $16M in 2008. Then came the deluge. In 2012 it was $231M, and nearly doubled again in next three election cycles —to $682M in 2016, $1.2 billion in 2020 and $2.6 billion in 2024.” Gift:
Reposted by Jerry Edwards
Trying to understand: the Constitution gives Congress the power to impose tariffs. The President imposes tariffs without Congress. Congress passes a law rescinding his tariffs. The President then vetos that law. Seems like something’s wrong here.
February 11, 2026 at 11:38 PM
Trying to understand: the Constitution gives Congress the power to impose tariffs. The President imposes tariffs without Congress. Congress passes a law rescinding his tariffs. The President then vetos that law. Seems like something’s wrong here.
Reposted by Jerry Edwards
“higher immigration literally saves lives—and suggests that, by extension, lower immigration costs lives. The reason is health care for the elderly... when a community attracts more immigrants, seniors are less likely to end up in health care institutions and, ultimately, less likely to die.“
Another Deadly Consequence of Trump’s Deportation Campaign — The Bulwark
We just got new evidence of how much we stand to lose by getting rid of people from “shithole” countries.
apple.news
February 11, 2026 at 8:36 PM
“higher immigration literally saves lives—and suggests that, by extension, lower immigration costs lives. The reason is health care for the elderly... when a community attracts more immigrants, seniors are less likely to end up in health care institutions and, ultimately, less likely to die.“
Reposted by Jerry Edwards
As powerful a visual as one can imagine about how insincere “tough on crime” types are when they claim they put victims first.
They only see victims as useful tools for advancing their desire to engage in punitive social control.
Victims who do not advance that goal don’t count.
They only see victims as useful tools for advancing their desire to engage in punitive social control.
Victims who do not advance that goal don’t count.
Likely-historic photo by NBC News of all the Epstein victims asked to raise their hands if they've not yet been asked to meet with the DOJ as Bondi testifies in foreground
February 11, 2026 at 8:15 PM
As powerful a visual as one can imagine about how insincere “tough on crime” types are when they claim they put victims first.
They only see victims as useful tools for advancing their desire to engage in punitive social control.
Victims who do not advance that goal don’t count.
They only see victims as useful tools for advancing their desire to engage in punitive social control.
Victims who do not advance that goal don’t count.
Reposted by Jerry Edwards
My paper on the original meaning of birthright citizenship is now published
February 11, 2026 at 3:13 PM
My paper on the original meaning of birthright citizenship is now published
Reposted by Jerry Edwards
In which Ilan fails to explain why his very long article does not take a firm position on whether the children of unlawful entrants and temporary visitors are birthright citizens whereas his brief defends the constitutionality of Trump’s EO, and evidently hopes that no one will notice.
February 11, 2026 at 6:01 PM
In which Ilan fails to explain why his very long article does not take a firm position on whether the children of unlawful entrants and temporary visitors are birthright citizens whereas his brief defends the constitutionality of Trump’s EO, and evidently hopes that no one will notice.
Reposted by Jerry Edwards
Still glad I rerouted our flight first thing because this makes no damn sense and it seems like the administration is particularly up to no good down there right now.
February 11, 2026 at 3:03 PM
Still glad I rerouted our flight first thing because this makes no damn sense and it seems like the administration is particularly up to no good down there right now.
Reposted by Jerry Edwards
New Knight Institute Initiative to Focus on "Reconstructing Free Expression" After Trump. @jameeljaffer.bsky.social: "This initiative is meant to encourage creative and ambitious thinking about how to build a system of free expression that serves democracy better." knightcolumbia.org/content/new-...
New Knight Institute Initiative to Focus on “Reconstructing Free Expression” After Trump
knightcolumbia.org
February 11, 2026 at 4:36 PM
New Knight Institute Initiative to Focus on "Reconstructing Free Expression" After Trump. @jameeljaffer.bsky.social: "This initiative is meant to encourage creative and ambitious thinking about how to build a system of free expression that serves democracy better." knightcolumbia.org/content/new-...
Reposted by Jerry Edwards
A dresser inside a museum in New York City has been discovered as a secret stop on the Underground Railroad — the first of its kind discovered in Manhattan in over 100 years
February 11, 2026 at 3:43 AM
A dresser inside a museum in New York City has been discovered as a secret stop on the Underground Railroad — the first of its kind discovered in Manhattan in over 100 years
Reposted by Jerry Edwards
“Historians call this passageway a masterwork of deliberate concealment, designed to be absolutely invisible to slave catchers or city marshals during the 19th-century”
Safe house linked to Underground Railroad discovered in Manhattan
The Merchant's House is the first landmarked building in Manhattan.
ny1.com
February 11, 2026 at 3:59 AM
“Historians call this passageway a masterwork of deliberate concealment, designed to be absolutely invisible to slave catchers or city marshals during the 19th-century”
Reposted by Jerry Edwards
The political party that just really cares about the First Amendment sure seems to like locking people up for protected speech.
NEW: The Trump admin publicized the arrest of an "antifa domestic terrorist," implying he was charged with threatening federal agents. But the criminal complaint suggests Kyle Wagner was charged with Instagram beefing with controversial rightwing agitator Jayden Scott.
zeteo.com/p/trump-admi...
zeteo.com/p/trump-admi...
The Trump Admin Arrested an Antifascist for Shit-Talking a Fascist
A supposed ‘antifa domestic terrorist’ was arrested for ‘cyberstalking’ a controversial right-wing agitator who showed up at a reporter’s home to threaten him.
zeteo.com
February 11, 2026 at 2:03 AM
The political party that just really cares about the First Amendment sure seems to like locking people up for protected speech.
Reposted by Jerry Edwards
... while the National Cancer Institute is now looking into whether ivermectin can cure cancer.
Personalist politics is going to kill more and more people. Our entire public health structure is run by a worm-addled madman whose sole goal is to sate the ego of a decompensating Trump.
Madness.
Personalist politics is going to kill more and more people. Our entire public health structure is run by a worm-addled madman whose sole goal is to sate the ego of a decompensating Trump.
Madness.
I genuinely cannot believe the degree to which we are pissing away this generational breakthrough, even given the fuckmuppets who are involved www.nbcnews.com/health/healt...
FDA declines to review Moderna's mRNA flu shot
Under Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the Food and Drug Administration has taken an aggressive stance against mRNA technology.
www.nbcnews.com
February 11, 2026 at 1:32 AM
... while the National Cancer Institute is now looking into whether ivermectin can cure cancer.
Personalist politics is going to kill more and more people. Our entire public health structure is run by a worm-addled madman whose sole goal is to sate the ego of a decompensating Trump.
Madness.
Personalist politics is going to kill more and more people. Our entire public health structure is run by a worm-addled madman whose sole goal is to sate the ego of a decompensating Trump.
Madness.
Reposted by Jerry Edwards
6 months for assault with a cloth hat
This one will definitely make the Harpers letter
This one will definitely make the Harpers letter
NEW: Jonathon Redondo-Rosales, a 36-year-old LA protester, spent six months in jail accused of assaulting a federal officer with a *cloth hat.*
A judge tossed out the DOJ’s case, accusing govt of acting in “bad faith” and engaging in “prosecutorial harassment“ that could “chill lawful protest”
A judge tossed out the DOJ’s case, accusing govt of acting in “bad faith” and engaging in “prosecutorial harassment“ that could “chill lawful protest”
Case dismissed against LA protester accused of assaulting federal officer with cloth hat
Judge says US government acted in ‘bad faith’ in case of Jonathon Redondo-Rosales, 36, who spent six months in jail
www.theguardian.com
February 11, 2026 at 6:48 AM
6 months for assault with a cloth hat
This one will definitely make the Harpers letter
This one will definitely make the Harpers letter