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Keith E. Whittington

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Keith E. Whittington is an American political scientist and legal scholar. He has been the William Nelson Cromwell Professor of… more

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Political science 49%
Law 25%
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by Keith E. Whittington

kewhittington.bsky.social
I argue that private universities should generally adopt free expression policies that mirror the 1st Amend, indicate scope & limits of that approach, identify core principles that such a commitment would require & consider the rationale for a 1st Amend regime & its primary alternatives.
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by Keith E. Whittington

kewhittington.bsky.social
In the latest issue of the Journal of Contemporary Legal Issues, with a symposium in honor of Larry Alexander

digital.sandiego.edu/jcli/vol27/i...
The Journal of Contemporary Legal Issues | Vol 27 | Iss 1
digital.sandiego.edu
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by Keith E. Whittington

kewhittington.bsky.social
New article now available
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by Keith E. Whittington

kewhittington.bsky.social
Plenty of those need to be cleaned up in revisions

by Keith E. Whittington — Reposted by Lawrence B. Solum, Jacob T. Levy, Simon Lester

kewhittington.bsky.social
For some reason the Trump cert petition did not cite my piece, but figure it might become relevant

papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
By Birth Alone: The Original Meaning of Birthright Citizenship and Subject to the Jurisdiction of the United States
The citizenship clause of the Fourteenth Amendment entrenched birthright citizenship into the Constitution. Building on a recent revisionist scholarly literatur
papers.ssrn.com
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by Keith E. Whittington

kewhittington.bsky.social
Alas, still relevant

www.lawfaremedia.org/article/rip-...
R.I.P. Congressional War Power
President Donald Trump has ordered significant military strikes against assets of the Assad regime in Syria.
www.lawfaremedia.org
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by Keith E. Whittington — Reposted by Elizabeth Saunders

kewhittington.bsky.social
Yet another no good, very bad day for the Constitution

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/02/u...
Trump ‘Determined’ the U.S. Is Now in a War With Drug Cartels, Congress Is Told
www.nytimes.com
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by Keith E. Whittington

kewhittington.bsky.social
My conversation w/ @jacklgoldsmith.bsky.social on whether Trump is a reconstructive president and what that means

open.substack.com/pub/executiv...
Is Donald Trump a Reconstructive President?
When presidents push back against the courts
open.substack.com
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by Keith E. Whittington

kewhittington.bsky.social
If I’m ever elected president, I will work into every speech my grievances with Reviewer 2
savchenkoua.bsky.social
Savchenko Volodymyr @savchenkoua.bsky.social · 22d
🇺🇸🇺🇳 Trump: Years ago, I bid $500 million to rebuild the UN complex, marble floors, mahogany walls, best of everything.

They chose another plan, cost $2–4 billion, far worse, massive overruns, no marble floors. I was right.
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Reposted by Keith E. Whittington

savchenkoua.bsky.social
🇺🇸🇺🇳 Trump: Years ago, I bid $500 million to rebuild the UN complex, marble floors, mahogany walls, best of everything.

They chose another plan, cost $2–4 billion, far worse, massive overruns, no marble floors. I was right.
14 8 77

by Keith E. Whittington

kewhittington.bsky.social
Some excellent news regarding my new center at Yale. Maybe there’ll be some work for him to do at some point

Joe Cohn Joins the Center for Academic Freedom and Free Speech as Executive Director law.yale.edu/yls-today/ne...
Joe Cohn Joins the Center for Academic Freedom and Free Speech as Executive Director
Cohn joins the center after a legal career dedicated to defending free speech rights and campus civil liberties.
law.yale.edu
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Reposted by Keith E. Whittington

chronicle.com
Opinion | The academic-freedom expert Keith Whittington weighs in on the rash of recent firings.
Opinion | The Assassination That Broke Campus Free Speech
Professors are allowed to say hateful things. That doesn’t mean they should.
www.chronicle.com
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Reposted by Keith E. Whittington

chronicle.com
Opinion | Academic freedom expert Keith Whittington weighs in on recent events in Texas.
Opinion | What the Texas A&M Firing Portends for Faculty Speech
On its face, this looks like a textbook violation of academic freedom.
www.chronicle.com
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by Keith E. Whittington

kewhittington.bsky.social
Rosie O’Donnell discourse leads me to Robert Dahl and his critics and how constitutional constraints are shed
volokhc.bsky.social
Volokh Conspiracy @volokhc.bsky.social · Sep 5
[Keith E. Whittington] Donald Trump, Constitutionalism, and the Third Face of Power
How to speak a new constitution into being
dlvr.it
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by Keith E. Whittington — Reposted by Anthony Burke

kewhittington.bsky.social
Nearly half off for Kindle edition

“Written with a commendably cool head, Whittington’s book will be a key guide for legal experts as well as lay readers.”

The Impeachment Power: The Law, Politics, and Purpose of an Extraordinary Constitutional Tool a.co/d/aQl4iXs
The Impeachment Power: The Law, Politics, and Purpose of an Extraordinary Constitutional Tool
The Impeachment Power: The Law, Politics, and Purpose of an Extraordinary Constitutional Tool - Kindle edition by Whittington, Keith E.. Download it once and read it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading The Impeachment Power: The Law, Politics, and Purpose of an Extraordinary Constitutional Tool.
a.co
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Reposted by Keith E. Whittington, Joanna Bryson, Marc Lynch , and 19 more

osamet.bsky.social
I know there's a lot happening today, but this is sneaking in under the radar. This proposed new rule would absolutely crush foreign PhD students, potentially making it impossible for them to enroll with any certainty of their ability to finish www.politico.com/news/2025/08...
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by Keith E. Whittington — Reposted by Tom Clark

kewhittington.bsky.social
I’d say the appropriate reaction in a constitutional democracy is to keep someone with that attitude the hell away from the White House, but here we are
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Reposted by Keith E. Whittington, Jan W. Mueller, William Myers

kewhittington.bsky.social
Ok, let’s take a look at this flag burning executive order. As usual, much less than meets the eye, but great for culture war fodder on both sides 1/
atrupar.com
Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · Aug 25
Trump signs an executive order: "If you burn a flag, you get one year in jail."
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by Keith E. Whittington

kewhittington.bsky.social
As predicted, the flag-burning EO is a nothing burger from a legal or policy perspective, but I’m sure it will help everyone with their small-dollar donors. But I would advise criminals to avoid desecrating American flags while they do their criming. 12/12
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by Keith E. Whittington

kewhittington.bsky.social
Foreign nationals might have more to worry about, but again not because there’s now a new legal constraint but because burning flags will be a good way to prioritize your deportation on other grounds. 11/
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by Keith E. Whittington

kewhittington.bsky.social
Let’s litigate to “clarify the scope of the First Amendment exceptions in this area”! Sure, good luck with that. And for those saying “But the Roberts Court!” The Roberts Court is extremely 1A friendly and even Alito has favorably cited the flag burning opinions. Loser. 10/
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by Keith E. Whittington

kewhittington.bsky.social
There is already evidence that cops arrest people in such cases that prosecutors refuse to prosecute. EO might encourage cops to be more aggressive in making such arrests, even if arrestees continue to get immediately kicked by prosecutors and magistrates. 9/
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by Keith E. Whittington

kewhittington.bsky.social
Same with the referral to local officials for local crimes, but one can easily imagine some overreach in prosecutions that courts will predictably bat down. 8/
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by Keith E. Whittington

kewhittington.bsky.social
The actual directive to the AG here is festooned with legal limitations. Maybe this changes prosecutorial priorities, but that’s it. If you are going to beat someone up, you might not want to do it at the same time you desecrate the American flag. 7/
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by Keith E. Whittington

kewhittington.bsky.social
Administration will prosecute lawless actions that also involve flag-burning? Ok, whatever. The prosecuting criminal behavior is doing all the work here. The flag add-on is boob bait. 6/
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by Keith E. Whittington

kewhittington.bsky.social
The EO wants to pretend that there are unanswered legal questions regarding flag burning that opens a door to greater enforcement action. This is a frequent Trump EO tactic, but it is a mirage in this case as in others. 5/
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by Keith E. Whittington

kewhittington.bsky.social
This is unlikely to fly. Flag burning as a type of “fighting word” is a non-starter under existing precedent. Flag-burning adds nothing to actions that otherwise qualify as incitement & flag-burning in itself won’t meet that standard. 4/
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by Keith E. Whittington

kewhittington.bsky.social
There is a pitch that some instances of flag burning might fall under existing 1st Amendment exceptions despite the Court’s ruling that flag burning as such is protected expression. 3/
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by Keith E. Whittington

kewhittington.bsky.social
The full flag burning executive order can be found here 2/

www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...
Prosecuting Burning of The American Flag
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered: Section 1.  Purpose.
www.whitehouse.gov
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by Keith E. Whittington

kewhittington.bsky.social
Drafting articles should be a strategic effort with a political calculation, not a cathartic release of pent up anger

www.amazon.com/Impeachment-...
The Impeachment Power: The Law, Politics, and Purpose of an Extraordinary Constitutional Tool
The Impeachment Power: The Law, Politics, and Purpose of an Extraordinary Constitutional Tool - Kindle edition by Whittington, Keith E.. Download it once and read it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading The Impeachment Power: The Law, Politics, and Purpose of an Extraordinary Constitutional Tool.
www.amazon.com
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