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Ben Heath

@jbentonheath.bsky.social
7.5K followers 996 following 1.5K posts

Associate Professor, Temple University School of Law. I post about things that interest me, some of which are about law.

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Reposted by Ben Heath
Dominique Baker @bakerdphd.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
"The current level of political animosity is exactly what one would expect to see if an extremist faction attempted to rescind the hard-earned rights of the vast majority of the country’s citizens." There are not enough exclamation points to convey how I felt reading this paragraph
Screenshot of article which reads: From this perspective, the “both sides” frame falls apart. The prob-
lem is not that the parties are divided. The problem is the existential 
threat that a reempowered ethnonationalist strain poses to pluralistic 
U.S. democracy writ large. The current level of political animosity is 
exactly what one would expect to see if an extremist faction attempted 
to rescind the hard-earned rights of the vast majority of the country’s 
citizens. The only way to re-oppress most of a country is to use anti-
democratic and authoritarian tactics. And the only way to oppose those 
tactics is to push back as a population and clearly reject them. This is 
the argument happening in the United States, and its pathology is not 
anger—it is the movement to undermine a generation of rights.
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Ben Heath @jbentonheath.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
For anyone who loves punk and metal, all roads lead back to those first two Venom albums. When Sunn O))) last played in Philly, they opened with a kind of conceptual art piece that stitched together Cronos's stage banter. It was both goofy and touching. Lay down your soul to the gods rock & roll!
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Michael Albertus @mikealbertus.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
My piece at @foreignaffairs.com on the global rush to control the oceans.
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Public Administration @journalpa.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
"From Civic Tech to DOGE: The Role of Tech Movements in the American Administrative State," by Donald Moynihan argues that civic tech and DOGE represent contrasting approaches to technology-driven government reform. doi.org/10.1111%2Fpa...
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Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
This is the 59th death in ICE detention since Trump took office.
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David Kaye @davidakaye.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
reminder that we are talking about this
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Ben Heath @jbentonheath.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Unconscionable.
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Steve Vladeck @stevevladeck.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
#BREAKING: Over dissents from the three Democratic appointees, #SCOTUS grants a stay in the third-country removals case; clears way for Trump admin. to continue removing non-citizens without a full chance to litigate the conditions in those countries (while also taking up the full merits appeal).
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Jake Grumbach @jakemgrumbach.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
I don’t even know what to say newrepublic.com/post/213446/...
newrepublic.com
Trump Moves to Cut Off Student Loans for Tons of Degrees
Under a new rule, if your degree doesn’t make enough money, you won’t be able to get a student loan.
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Ben Heath @jbentonheath.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
This is great. It articulates a lot of things that I and my colleagues have been trying to put together, but does it better and more clearly, and draws a clear line between the privatization of research funding, university self-governance, and faculty/worker organizing. Well done. 1/5
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Julian Davis Mortenson @jdmortenson.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
It's hard to imagine a serious effort to fix the federal government that doesn't include court reform. This is not a generic point about bad faith judges. Successful political reform will require the root-and-branch elimination of interlocking con law doctrines that choke off legislative innovation
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Sam Bagenstos @sbagen.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Exactly: "The point is we can't not have big government. And that means we need legal theories and institutions ensuring that those powers advance the common good and aren't hijacked by authoritarians."
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Ross Ingram @rossingram.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Ant record is coming. Ant record is coming. Ant record is coming. Strap on your wings and fly.
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Corey Rayburn Yung @coreyryung.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Americans seem increasingly comfortable with the idea that government actors shouldn't be criminally punished. That's antithetical to the rule of law. Criminal law applies to everyone or it's not really "law." The Supreme Court did not help matters with its decision in Trump v. US.
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Bec Hamilton @bechamilton.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
This is the power of solidarity. Kudos to FOX news & the entire TV pool. www.justsecurity.org/109439/colle...
justsecurity.org
The Imperative of Solidarity in Response to Assaults on Legal Services, Universities, and Independent Media
Author argues that Trump administration's unconstitutional actions against universities, law firms, and independent media requires collective responses.
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Spencer Ackerman @attackerman.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
This is a really important story. You know how over reliance on AI makes you lazy and stupid? This shows how that’s happening within the military — a military, it cannot be pointed out often enough, that’s growing ever more reliant on AI. The children of Shajarah Tayyebah Elementary paid the price
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Henry Farrell @himself.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
1. www.bloomberg.com/opinion/news... So Matt Levine had a newsletter yesterday where he suggested that AI labs could "publish papers about how important it is to slow down" to coordinate an effective cartel. I have a Modest Proposal that goes one better.
bloomberg.com
AI Labs Want Someone to Stop Them
AI and antitrust, lockups and indexes, annuities, Montessori and sudden wealth syndrome.
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Ben Heath @jbentonheath.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Has anyone written a paper showing how antitrust law creates the conditions for companies to use moral panics as a coordinating mechanism? The AI apocalypse discourse is obviously the latest example. But the return-to-office discourse of a few years ago might be another one. Surely there are more.
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Ben Heath @jbentonheath.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Re-upping this @justsecurity.org piece from last summer in light of recent Discourse. This is the part that I think resonates most today. www.justsecurity.org/141306/ai-eo...
The order thus shows how voluntary and coordinated self-regulation might work in the Chokepoint State. The leading tech firms, having leveraged billions of dollars on AI, would naturally seek U.S. government protection from forces that would erode their dominant position. Under these conditions, it makes sense for these firms to seek a partnership with the White House. Under the framework of this order, or a similar regulation, the leading firms can establish joint public/private control over advanced AI technology, rebranding industry leaders as “trusted partners,” and entrenching their market and political power.
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Dan Murphy @bungdan.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
On Altman, Musk, and the rest of the AI oligarchs: They aren't calling for regulation. They're maneuvering to be made the regulators to entrench monopoly positions.
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Omri Marian @omrimarian.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
This is what actual, not imagined, indoctrination looks like.
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Todd Phillips @tphillips.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Ben Cavataro and I have a new paper forthcoming in the Journal of Law and Politics titled "Associate Commissioners." We interviewed 24 associate members of multimember regulatory agencies to understand the *actual* power they wield in their agencies. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
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Ben Heath @jbentonheath.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Last year, at a talk on Slaughter, I described the current moment as a "midair collision between a legacy Reagan-era project and an authoritarian admin that wants to use executive power to subvert liberal democracy entirely." Glad to see that some subscribers to that legacy project agree.
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Ben Heath @jbentonheath.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
A hugely important point, which @templelaw.bsky.social students who attended our Supreme Court roundup event yesterday will recognize.
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Julian Davis Mortenson @jdmortenson.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
wheeeeee!
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Julian Davis Mortenson @jdmortenson.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Leah’s point about the SCt’s perversion of separation-of-powers principles in cutting off judicial review of concededly illegal behavior must be considered together with @jbentonheath.bsky.social’s paper on The Chokepoint State. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.... This is really important stuff.
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Just Security @justsecurity.org · 02/09/2026
The universal view of experts, @becingber.bsky.social explains, is that the Trump administration's killings at sea are murder under domestic law, extrajudicial killings under international law, and given their systematic nature, may well be crimes against humanity.
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Chris Hayes @chrislhayes.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
I don’t think there’s really even a colorable argument that this isn’t mass murder. theintercept.com/2026/09/02/m...
theintercept.com
The U.S. Has Killed 227 Civilians in Boat Strikes During “A Year of Murders”
“The boat strikes are, perhaps, the most stark testament to the lawlessness of the Trump administration.”
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Lawrence Solum @lsolum.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Heath on the Chokepoint State J. Benton Heath (Temple University Beasley School of Law) has posted The Chokepoint State on SSRN. Here is the abstract:...
legaltheoryblog.com
Heath on the Chokepoint State
J. Benton Heath (Temple University Beasley School of Law) has posted The Chokepoint State on SSRN. Here is the abstract: This paper argues that the second Trump administration is crystallizing a new phase of U.S. state-building—the Chokepoint State. In the Chokepoint State, state capacity is directed toward creating and controlling key nodes in financial and data networks, with the aim of using that control to punish adversaries, reward allies, and set new rules of the road.
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Richard Heppner 🤷🏼‍♂️ @rlheppner.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
How do you actually play TAG! The Jurisdiction Game? A Thread:
It's about the cones meme from Parks & Rec, but it says:

It's about the minimum contacts such that exerting personal jurisdiction will not offend traditional notions of fair play and substantial justice.
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Boston Review @bostonreview.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
“The infrastructural imperialism I described in 2011—the steady, unaccountable extension of one company’s dominion over the mechanisms by which we find things out—has entered its final and most totalizing phase. Having organized the web, Google now proposes to replace it.” @sivav.bsky.social
bostonreview.net
What Was the Internet?
As AI overtakes the web, five writers reflect on how far it’s fallen and what comes next.
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John Pfaff @johnpfaff.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
This looks like a really interesting paper that reframes what Trump is doing (and others have done) in a way I haven't seen before, and strikes me as raising a lot of challenges (and maybe answers!) that the conventional "is this an authoritarian consolidation" takes overlook.
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A.J. Bauer @ajbauer.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
MAKING THE LIBERAL MEDIA Fall Tour is finalized: 9/24 — Boston, MA (MIT) 10/30 — Brussels, BE (VUB) 11/2 — Paris, FR (UP, Nanterre) 11/3 — Paris, FR (Sciences Po) 11/4 — Geneva, CH (GGI) 11/6 — Odense, DK (SDU) Want to host me? Now booking for Spring 2027!
Making the liberal media: how conservatives built a movement against the press, AJ Bauer
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Sam Bagenstos @sbagen.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
Having had a chance to read this now, I can say it's one of my favorite pieces of the year. It very nicely pulls together a lot of what's going on, and it's highly relevant to efforts to rebuild democratic government in the future.
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Adam Bonica @adambonica.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
I wrote this because most journalists facing this pressure can’t. The paper we count on to check authoritarianism spiked an investigation into the Democratic Party because the party’s lawyers threatened to sue. Holding authoritarians accountable starts with holding your own side accountable.
data4democracy.substack.com
With Fear and Favor
Institutions don’t have courage. They have incentives.
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Connor Ewing @cmewing.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
University leadership: We stand ready to support our faculty as they confront the disruptions & uncertainty caused by AI. Faculty: Great! We'll need smaller class sizes, especially for incoming students and— University leadership: Lol, no. We meant like subscriptions to Claude.
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Ben Heath @jbentonheath.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
I've posted my first systematic attempt to make sense of the past 20 months, as well as what came before. It's a work in progress, so please do hit me up with comments, objections, and screeds. The abstract (w/ alt text) is here. Some acknowledgments & refs in 🧵.1/x papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
This paper argues that the second Trump administration is crystallizing a new phase of U.S. state-building-the Chokepoint State. In the Chokepoint State, state capacity is directed toward creating and controlling key nodes in financial and data networks, with the aim of using that control to punish adversaries, reward allies, and set new rules of the road. This stage in American state-making builds on earlier legal and administrative innovations, but it operates according to its own logic. In the Chokepoint State, actors that control nodes in economic and information networks can use their power to impose new, quasi-legal norms that do not derive from any ordinary lawmaking process. The second Trump administration's grab for power has depended heavily on the techniques of the Chokepoint State, but those techniques precede Trump and have been used by administrations from both major U.S. parties. The paper further argues that resistance in the Chokepoint State requires a combination of strategies to tame the state's discretion from within, while using countervailing power to build zones of sanctuary that exist outside the state's unbridled control.

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=7300179
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Ben Heath @jbentonheath.bsky.social · 14/02/2026
We got married here In 2011. It truly is the happiest government building I’ve ever visited. I love this.
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Seth Cotlar @sethcotlar.bsky.social · 14/02/2026
In 1854, after watching the federal government deploy 2000 federal troops and spend $40,000 sending Anthony Burns back into slavery, Boston's Amos Adams Lawrence said “we went to bed one night old-fashioned, conservative, Compromise Union Whigs and waked up stark mad Abolitionists.”
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Cooper River Indivisible @crindivisible.bsky.social · 14/02/2026
Yesterday morning kids were sent running from their bus stop in panic because ICE showed up. This guy at today’s ICE Out of Lindenwold protest is a must watch 😭. @maddow.bsky.social
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Ben Heath @jbentonheath.bsky.social · 14/02/2026
This is really beautiful and sad. A great read for all the Trekkies on LawSky. You know who you are.
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Maggie Blackhawk @maggieblackhawk.bsky.social · 13/02/2026
New Foreword up on SSRN, previewing new projects on the history of constitutional history and what it can teach about legal frameworks at the heart of our "constitutional crisis"-federal Indian law, territorial law, expansion, immigration, and executive power. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
As constitutional interpretation becomes rooted ever more deeply into the past the Constitution seemingly has less and less to say about our present. It seems to offer little principled direction for navigating what many describe as a constitutional crisis. On questions ranging from birthright citizenship and territorial acquisition to aggressive federal immigration enforcement, executive intervention beyond U.S. borders, and the “history and tradition” of annexed territories such as Hawai’i, the Constitution’s familiar sources of authority and traditional narratives seem to falter. These domains appear to tread into empty constitutional landscapes and newly discovered territory.  
Scholars have increasingly traced this backward-looking orientation to conservative legal movements of the last half century. But the impulse to seek constitutional meaning in the past is not new. Long before the Supreme Court embraced originalism, and long before the modern turn to “history and tradition,” jurists and scholars assumed that the Constitution could not be understood apart from its origins and development. Constitutional meaning was thought to emerge from historical inquiry. The question, then, was not whether constitutional interpretation should engage with the past, but which past—and through what historical method. 
This Foreword argues that our present constitutional impasse stems, at least in part, not solely from excessive attention to the past but from fixation on a particular kind of past. Modern constitutional theory, I suggest, has been increasingly bounded by what scholars in the historical and social sciences call a methodological nationalism. By nationalism, I do not mean to invoke familiar federalism debates. Nor do I use the term nationalism as a pejorative or a critique of those whose research centers the United States and its founders. 
Rather, in identifying mainstream constitutional theory as operating within a nationalist frame, I seek to draw attention t…
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Ben Heath @jbentonheath.bsky.social · 13/02/2026
This a good piece. Among other things, the first part of Catherine's paper on the civil service is a very readable restatement of the conventional wisdom <positive> on the rise of the nonpartisan civil service. I taught from it this year and will do so again. 1/3
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Liberal Currents @liberalcurrents.com · 11/02/2026
“They've overstayed a visa. They've missed an appointment with an immigration judge. Alright, that warrants a slap on the wrist, a wagging disapproving finger, and perhaps a small fine for the bureaucratic burden. These are administrative violations” www.liberalcurrents.com/abolition-am...
liberalcurrents.com
Abolition, Amnesty, Decriminalization, Open Borders
You may not believe immigration restrictions are racist, but racists believe immigration restrictions are racist.
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James Goodwin @jamesgoodwin.bsky.social · 12/02/2026
This action "is a ringing alarm bell warning all of us of the extent to which this administration has succeeded in degrading our governing institutions in such a short period of time." My statement progressivereform.org/cpr-blog/epa...
progressivereform.org
Statement on the EPA’s Final Rescission of the ‘Endangerment Finding’ - Center for Progressive Reform
Over the course of more than a century, serious statespeople came together to build the modern administrative state out of a shared commitment to redeeming their constitutional duty to form a more per...
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Ben Heath @jbentonheath.bsky.social · 12/02/2026
Well, teaching Massachusetts v. EPA just got more fun.
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LPE Blog @lpeblog.bsky.social · 12/02/2026
"Here, too, law and order are being produced, not by courts that rapidly retreat from confrontation under a presumption of regularity, or agencies that disclaim responsibility for their own violence, but by collective practice that emerges when formal guarantees prove selectively unreliable."
lpeproject.org
Whistling at the Edge of Law
The whistle is sounding in Minneapolis. The question before the legal profession is whether we will hear it, amplify it, and act accordingly, or instead insist that the ground eroding beneath our feet...
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Ben Heath @jbentonheath.bsky.social · 12/02/2026
This feels like a @msmith750.bsky.social article.
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Ben Heath @jbentonheath.bsky.social · 12/02/2026
Starting to think the whole thing where we give people any kind of authority at all over other people was a mistake.
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Spencer Ackerman @attackerman.bsky.social · 12/02/2026
He literally says in this clip that ICE will keep in Minnesota “quick reaction forces” — a military term — to go after “agitators.” Remember that those on the ground in MPLS have spent more than a week trying to tell everyone that Trump’s prior “deescalation” was a ruse and ICE is still operational
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