Associate Professor of Law
Courses Taught
- Constitutional Law
- Civil Rights
Biography
Jerry Edwards is an Associate Professor of Law at West Virginia University College of Law. Professor Edwards teaches and writes on issues related to constitutional law and civil rights, with particular emphasis on the history of free expression. His scholarship has appeared or is forthcoming in the Boston College Law Review, the Harvard Law and Policy Review, and the online components of the Georgetown Law Journal, Florida Law Review, and Law and History Review.
Before joining WVU Law, Professor Edwards worked as a staff attorney for the ACLU of Florida, where he focused on combating educational censorship and promoting bail reform. During his time at the ACLU, Professor Edwards served on litigation teams that successfully defended student speech rights, faculty’s academic freedom rights, the right to protest, and the right against excessive bail.
Prior to joining the ACLU, Professor Edwards worked as Assistant Solicitor General to the Kansas Attorney General, where he served as lead counsel on civil appeals, analyzed executive policy, and assessed amicus opportunities. Professor Edwards also served as judicial law clerk to Judge Eugene E. Siler, Jr., of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and Judge David C. Guaderrama of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas.
Professor Edwards received his J.D. from the University of Florida Levin College of Law and his B.S. from the University of South Carolina. He is a member of the Florida Bar and the U.S. Supreme Court Bar, among others.
Publications and Research
- Academic Freedom’s Inflection Point, 67 BOSTON COLLEGE LAW REVIEW (2026) (forthcoming).
- Federal Funding Restrictions, Academic Research, and the First Amendment, 114 GEORGETOWN LAW JOURNAL ONLINE (2025) (forthcoming).
- Book Review, Samantha Barbas, Actual Malice: Civil Rights and Freedom of the Press in New York Times v. Sullivan, 7 LAW & HISTORY REVIEW: THE DOCKET (2024).
- Using State Constitutions to End Wealth-Based Detention: Florida as a Case Study, 76 FLORIDA LAW REVIEW FORUM 28 (2024).
- Safeguarding the Search for Truth: Carving Out Academic Freedom’s Place in a Domain Dominated by Government Speech, 19 HARVARD LAW & POLICY REVIEW 93 (2024).
Education
- J.D., University of Florida
- B.S., University of South Carolina
