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jbentonheath.bsky.social
Ben Heath
@jbentonheath.bsky.social
7.5K followers 990 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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jbentonheath.bsky.social
Ben Heath @jbentonheath.bsky.social · Aug 17
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
Reposted by Ben Heath
himself.bsky.social
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.
AI Labs Want Someone to Stop Them
AI and antitrust, lockups and indexes, annuities, Montessori and sudden wealth syndrome.
www.bloomberg.com
September 15, 2026 at 2:44 PM
jbentonheath.bsky.social
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.
bungdan.bsky.social Dan Murphy @bungdan.bsky.social · 4d
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.
September 14, 2026 at 8:32 PM
jbentonheath.bsky.social
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.
September 14, 2026 at 7:03 PM
Reposted by Ben Heath
bungdan.bsky.social
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.
September 14, 2026 at 6:41 PM
Reposted by Ben Heath
omrimarian.bsky.social
This is what actual, not imagined, indoctrination looks like.
houstonchronicle.com Houston Chronicle @houstonchronicle.com · 14d
The Texas A&M University System Board of Regents cut more than 200 courses from the core curriculum across 11 universities on Thursday, in response to a state law requiring all general education classes to be “foundational and fundamental.”
bit.ly/4iQNt0K
September 4, 2026 at 4:35 PM
Reposted by Ben Heath
tphillips.bsky.social
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....
September 4, 2026 at 12:31 PM
jbentonheath.bsky.social
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.
lsolum.bsky.social Lawrence Solum @lsolum.bsky.social · 14d
Nelson on the Dictatorial Presidency

Caleb Nelson (University of Virginia School of Law) has posted Against the Dictatorial Presidency on SSRN. Here is the abstract:...
Nelson on the Dictatorial Presidency
Caleb Nelson (University of Virginia School of Law) has posted Against the Dictatorial Presidency on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Article II of the Constitution says that “[t]he executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America.” Ever since the 1980s, it has been an article of faith in Republican legal circles that this spare sentence answers an enormous number of questions about personnel practices and decision-making structures for everything that the federal government does outside of Congress and the Article III courts.
legaltheoryblog.com
September 4, 2026 at 4:00 PM
jbentonheath.bsky.social
A hugely important point, which @templelaw.bsky.social students who attended our Supreme Court roundup event yesterday will recognize.
September 3, 2026 at 2:39 PM
Reposted by Ben Heath
jdmortenson.bsky.social
wheeeeee!
September 2, 2026 at 5:42 PM
Reposted by Ben Heath
jdmortenson.bsky.social
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.
September 3, 2026 at 2:53 AM
Reposted by Ben Heath
justsecurity.org
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.
September 2, 2026 at 5:30 PM
Reposted by Ben Heath
chrislhayes.bsky.social
I don’t think there’s really even a colorable argument that this isn’t mass murder.

theintercept.com/2026/09/02/m...
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.”
theintercept.com
September 2, 2026 at 1:00 PM
Reposted by Ben Heath
lsolum.bsky.social
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:...
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.
legaltheoryblog.com
September 1, 2026 at 7:25 PM
Reposted by Ben Heath
rlheppner.bsky.social
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.
August 12, 2026 at 2:07 PM
Reposted by Ben Heath
bostonreview.bsky.social
“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
What Was the Internet?
As AI overtakes the web, five writers reflect on how far it’s fallen and what comes next.
www.bostonreview.net
August 18, 2026 at 5:10 PM
Reposted by Ben Heath
johnpfaff.bsky.social
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.
jbentonheath.bsky.social Ben Heath @jbentonheath.bsky.social · Aug 17
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
August 18, 2026 at 4:12 PM
Reposted by Ben Heath
ajbauer.bsky.social
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
August 17, 2026 at 4:53 PM
Reposted by Ben Heath
sbagen.bsky.social
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.
jbentonheath.bsky.social Ben Heath @jbentonheath.bsky.social · Aug 17
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
August 17, 2026 at 9:06 PM
Reposted by Ben Heath
adambonica.bsky.social
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.
With Fear and Favor
Institutions don’t have courage. They have incentives.
data4democracy.substack.com
August 17, 2026 at 4:05 PM
Reposted by Ben Heath
cmewing.bsky.social
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.
August 17, 2026 at 4:01 PM
jbentonheath.bsky.social
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
August 17, 2026 at 4:02 PM
jbentonheath.bsky.social
We got married here In 2011. It truly is the happiest government building I’ve ever visited. I love this.
mayor.nyc.gov Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani @mayor.nyc.gov · Feb 14
Everyone in the world comes to get married at the NYC Marriage Bureau. Last week, the Mayor stopped by to officiate a few of those ceremonies. 
 
Thank you to all the couples who shared their joy with us. Happy Valentine's Day, New York. 
 
 Watch the full video at Youtube.com/nycmayorsoffice
February 14, 2026 at 6:11 PM
Reposted by Ben Heath
sethcotlar.bsky.social
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.”
crindivisible.bsky.social Cooper River Indivisible @crindivisible.bsky.social · Feb 14
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
February 14, 2026 at 5:07 PM
Reposted by Ben Heath
crindivisible.bsky.social
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
February 14, 2026 at 2:37 AM
jbentonheath.bsky.social
This is really beautiful and sad. A great read for all the Trekkies on LawSky. You know who you are.
February 14, 2026 at 3:08 PM