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Benjamin A. Barsky @benjaminabarsky.bsky.social · Aug 1

Congratulations!

Benjamin A. Barsky @benjaminabarsky.bsky.social · Jul 28

"Neighborhood incarceration rate was negatively associated with life expectancy, independent of [the Social Vulnerability Index (SVI)], particularly in the most disadvantaged neighborhoods, providing evidence that high incarceration rates exacerbate the health harms of neighborhood disadvantage."

Neighborhood Incarceration Rates, Social Vulnerability, and Life Expectancy

This cross-sectional study examines the association of neighborhood incarceration rates with neighborhood disadvantage and life expectancy.

jamanetwork.com

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Reposted by Benjamin A. Barsky

Rachel Sachs @rachelsachs.bsky.social · Jul 28

The Biden Admin rule aimed to "simplif[y] processes for eligible individuals to enroll" in these plans. The reconciliation text specifically bars HHS from enforcing its amendments, including 42 CFR 435.911 (streamlining eligibility determinations) and 435.952 (use of info, including attestation).

Bob Herman @bobjherman.bsky.social · Jul 28

Millions of older adults in America who are extremely destitute qualify for a public benefit called Medicare Savings Programs. Trump's tax law will make it more difficult for these people — again, the poorest of the poor — to get these subsidies. www.statnews.com/2025/07/28/m...

A cut to Medicare that could affect millions is buried in Trump’s tax law

Trump's tax law adds red tape to Medicare Savings Programs, risking coverage losses for low-income seniors.

www.statnews.com

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Benjamin A. Barsky @benjaminabarsky.bsky.social · Jul 25

Of course, @levfacher.bsky.social is on it: bsky.app/profile/levf.... Here's his piece: www.statnews.com/2025/07/25/t....

Reposted by Benjamin A. Barsky

Quinn Yeargain @yeargain.bsky.social · Jul 25

Question for the law professor crowd on behalf of someone wishing to remain anonymous:

How do we feel about listing BOTH Civil Procedure and Criminal Law on the FAR form? (Obviously, full context matters, which I can't provide.) But as a general matter: Does it seem like it'd clash? Or is it okay?

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Reposted by Benjamin A. Barsky

Lev Facher @levfacher.bsky.social · Jul 25

New for @statnews.com: Trump's executive order takes direct aim at supervised consumption sites like OnPoint NYC and harm reduction more broadly

www.statnews.com/2025/07/25/t...

Trump targets supervised consumption of drugs and harm reduction in executive order

President Trump is threatening to withhold funds from supervised drug consumption sites and potentially pursue criminal penalties against them.

www.statnews.com

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Benjamin A. Barsky @benjaminabarsky.bsky.social · Jul 25

Made some changes to my page — time to move on from pretending I am still a Ph.D. student: www.uclawsf.edu/people/benja....

Benjamin A. Barsky - UC Law San Francisco (Formerly UC Hastings)

www.uclawsf.edu

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Reposted by Benjamin A. Barsky

Rachel Sachs @rachelsachs.bsky.social · Jul 25

Important piece from Sherry Glied on the destruction - and rebuilding - of govt evaluation capacity. "[These offices'] demise signals a turn away from an ideal of government that roots its actions in evidence and seeks to continually improve its programs and mission." jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

Restoring Evaluation and Evidence-Building in the Federal Government

This JAMA Forum discusses the importance of a robust evaluation and evidence-building infrastructure in the federal government and emphasizes the risks to well-being associated with the elimination of...

jamanetwork.com

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Reposted by Benjamin A. Barsky

Thomas Frampton @tframpton.bsky.social · Jul 25

Not the main point here, but Trump is directing the federal government to convince state supreme courts that they are interpreting state constitutions wrong where they’ve limited state law enforcement from warehousing the poor in state custodial facilities. #ourfederalism

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Reposted by Benjamin A. Barsky

Sam Bagenstos @sbagen.bsky.social · Jul 25

So I have a new draft up. It's sort of about Skrmetti, sort of about RFK Jr., and even has a little bit of Braidwood content. It's my take on the inconsistent and contingent relationship between populism and libertarianism in health. Enjoy if you have insomnia. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

Health Populism, Health Freedom, and State Power

This paper uses Justice Thomas's concurring opinion in <i>United States v. Skrmetti</i> as a jumping-off point to explore the rise and contours of health populi

papers.ssrn.com

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Benjamin A. Barsky @benjaminabarsky.bsky.social · Jul 25

Read this thread. And might I add — even if I said I’d stop — the use of scare quotes when describing harm-reduction interventions. If my drug policy friends were wondering where this administration stood on the matter, look no further.

Brian Goldstone @brian-goldstone.bsky.social · Jul 24

Predictable, but no less shocking or reprehensible: Trump just signed an executive order urging states to forcibly institutionalize homeless people, defund Housing First, criminalize encampments, and cut aid to cities that don't comply.

Ending Crime and Disorder on America's Streets

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 and

www.whitehouse.gov

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Reposted by Benjamin A. Barsky

Sam Bagenstos @sbagen.bsky.social · Jul 25

Read this whole thread. The EO is a huge regressive step. And Brian's not wrong to be worried about this point in particular. The major theme of Trump II social policy is old-style Poor Law thinking, down to the indoor versus outdoor relief distinction.

Brian Goldstone @brian-goldstone.bsky.social · Jul 24

It's not at all alarmist to expect that the new network of detention centers will be used to confine unhoused people—and to extract free labor from them. Everything in this executive order points in that direction.

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Benjamin A. Barsky @benjaminabarsky.bsky.social · Jul 25

“Compassionate.”

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Benjamin A. Barsky @benjaminabarsky.bsky.social · Jul 24

And as @arrianna-planey.bsky.social points out, Grants Pass is an accelerator.

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Benjamin A. Barsky @benjaminabarsky.bsky.social · Jul 24

I'll stop after this — I promise. But NYC is often ground zero for this kind of stuff: www.nyc.gov/office-of-th....

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Benjamin A. Barsky @benjaminabarsky.bsky.social · Jul 24

All par for the course, predictable, and so on — I get it. But pair that with the recent Medicaid cuts, all in the name of "federalism" and state autonomy, and what you get is actually a regime of federalized carceral welfarism that will be immensely difficult to undo.

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Benjamin A. Barsky @benjaminabarsky.bsky.social · Jul 24

Ah, yes, mass involuntary institutionalization to "restore public order": www.whitehouse.gov/presidential....

Ending Crime and Disorder on America's Streets

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 and

www.whitehouse.gov

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Benjamin A. Barsky @benjaminabarsky.bsky.social · Jul 24

I know the edited volume that you are referring to very well! And yes, a place like no other at Harvard — not to mention that I owe so much to Michael Stein. (Who, for some reason, took it upon himself to support me, a nobody, at a moment when pursuing a research career was a very distant dream.)

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Benjamin A. Barsky @benjaminabarsky.bsky.social · Jul 24

Happy and proud that the Harvard Law School Project on Disability is getting the recognition it deserves: hls.harvard.edu/today/foster....

Fostering the dignity of persons with disabilities - Harvard Law School

The founders of Harvard Law School Project on Disability discuss the program’s ethos and evolution over the past 20 years.

hls.harvard.edu

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Benjamin A. Barsky @benjaminabarsky.bsky.social · Jul 24

Really important analysis — thank you.

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Reposted by Benjamin A. Barsky

Chloe N East (she/her) @chloeneast.bsky.social · Jul 24

Who is Arrested by ICE under Trump 2.0? A 🧵

New from me & @elizabethacox.bsky.social!

Piece: immresearch.org/publications...

1. ICE arrests spike in Jan & May 2025; when arrests increase, percent of those arrested who are convicted of a crime falls

Majority arrested have no criminal conviction

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Reposted by Benjamin A. Barsky

Jennifer Oliva @jennoliva.bsky.social · Jul 24

Thanks so much for the highly recommend @lsolum.bsky.social. Very kind. The final, published version of this essay is now up on SSRN.

Lawrence Solum @lsolum.bsky.social · Dec 18

Oliva on Regulating Healthcare Coverage Algorithms, https://buff.ly/3DwvytC - Jennifer D. Oliva (Indiana University Maurer School of Law; Georgetown University Law Center) has posted Regulating Healthcare Coverage Algorithms (Indiana Law Journal) on SSRN.

buff.ly