Law School Platforms Architect Of Project 2025 To Speak On Federalism
Prior to the election, folks with common sense warned that Project 2025 was going to be Trump’s game plan. Damage-controlling right-wingers painted the associations as red herrings and Trump halfheartedly distanced himself from the game plan. But once he won the election, the alt right stopped playing the “Who, me?” game, leaned in to Project 2025 being the blueprint for the incoming administration, and started the “Your Body, My Choice” bragging.
But the administration isn’t the only group doing its part to normalize alt-right policies. Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law will be platforming Kevin Roberts — Project 2025’s main architect — to discuss what federalism could look like under the Trump administration. And true to form whenever someone dressed up in a suit and polite language wants to speak to students about how curtailing rights is actually a good thing, some law school dean is anchoring the platforming in appeals to free speech. The Baltimore Banner has coverage:
“The law school’s dean, Renée Hutchins Laurent, told The Baltimore Banner in a statement before the initial event that she was “proud that our student groups are planning programs that promote diversity of thought and interrogate current legal and policy issues” and that it was “crucial that we uphold the right to free speech, even when faced with speech we find deeply offensive.”
Beautiful rhetoric here, but let’s not ignore the real consequences of “promoting diversity of thought” in this current climate. Tenured professors are getting fired for sharing thoughts that aren’t in line with mainstream political doxa or being forced into protracted court battles to get back into their class rooms. And the backlash isn’t just hitting professors. Grad students are getting abducted and shipped to Louisiana over writing op-eds critical of the government and arrested by ICE over leading protests on private campuses. This lecture has less to do with promoting diversity and more with platforming the architects of its destruction.
And as for federalism, where? Congress, much like Paul Weiss, is beholden to Trump’s whims. Not to mention that the judiciary is somewhere in between conferring nigh absolute criminal immunity upon him or risking impeachment if they disagree with him over constitutional matters. There is a name for a strong executive that has its hands in private corporations and exerts disproportionate control over other parts of government, but federalism is the wrong F word.
Now you might say, “Hey, having those discussions in a law class room is what free speech is all about!” but musings on sunlight being the best disinfectant for bad ideas doesn’t ring as true when the very real threat of deportation hangs over your head if you voice dissent. And even if you want to rely on your natural born citizenship instead of a green card, it’s only a matter of time before that goes up in smoke. Because if and when Trump gets SCOTUS to throw out the 14th Amendment, the already existing viewpoint discrimination in play is going to vamp up. Because let’s be honest — past all of the outrage and sentiment baiting, Nick Fuentes getting doxxed after saying “Your Body, My Choice” still involved more free speech protections and due process than what happened to Rumeysa Ozturk or Mahmoud Khalil. And it’s irresponsible for law school deans to deploy the same “Hey, we’re just sharing ideas” here rhetoric when they know that ICE is around the corner to capture anyone who doesn’t fall in line.
Project 2025 author comes to University of Maryland Law School on Monday [The Baltimore Banner]
Earlier: Watch The Exact Moment John Roberts Realizes He Whored Himself Out
Donald Trump Wants To Impeach Judge Who Dared To Explain Basic Con Law
Another FedSoc Chapter Invites Recognized Hate Group To Speak… So This Is Going To Be A Trend
Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord™ in the Facebook group Law School Memes for Edgy T14s. He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boatbuilder who is learning to swim, a published author on critical race theory, philosophy, and humor, and has a love for cycling that occasionally annoys his peers. You can reach him by email at [email protected] and by tweet at @WritesForRent.
