Benjamin A. Barsky

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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.

"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."

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).

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

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?

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.

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...

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

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...

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...

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

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....

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.

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.

“Compassionate.”

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

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

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.

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

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

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.)

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.

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

Really important analysis — thank you.

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

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

Characteristically clear-eyed thinking on the dangers of "regulation by deal" from my colleague David Pozen. balkin.blogspot.com/2025/07/regu...

Glad I stumbled upon this essay by @espinsegall.bsky.social: www.dorfonlaw.org/2025/07/of-c.... To be authentic is to be happy, or at least, happier.

“You Feel Like Your Life is Over” The 92-page report, “‘You Feel Like Your Life is Over’: Abusive Practices at Three Florida Immigration Detention Centers Since January 2025,” documents that people detained at Krome North Service Proc...

www.hrw.org/report/2025/...

Migrants at Ice jail in Miami made to kneel to eat ‘like dogs’, report alleges Incident in which migrants were shackled with hands tied of one succession of alleged abuses at jails in Florida

"Migrants at a Miami immigration jail were shackled with their hands tied behind their backs and made to kneel to eat food from styrofoam plates 'like dogs', according to a report published on Monday into conditions at three overcrowded south Florida facilities."

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Reevaluating State Medicaid Waivers Targeting the Reentry Population

Viewpoint: State Medicaid waivers for pre-release health services in prisons show promise but face limitations like inconsistency and administrative burdens. https://ja.ma/456YaFf

Exhibit X of our era of WWE politics.

Ozempic for addiction: How an elite rehab center is using GLP-1s to 'obliterate' all kinds of cravings Pointing to Ozempic as a paradigm shift, an elite rehab center is experimenting with GLP-1s to tame many forms of addiction.

New: Inside the elite Pennsylvania rehab facility aggressively prescribing GLP-1s, normally used for weight loss, as medications to treat addiction

“I truly think these medications work because obesity is an addiction to food.”

www.statnews.com/2025/07/14/g...

We appreciate the engagement. The OBBB has deeply weakened Medicaid. Its ripple effects will be felt in this context too.