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In Bad Law, the New York Times bestselling author of Allow Me to Retort reimagines what our legal system, and society at large, could look like if we could move past legislation plagued by racism, misogyny, and corruption. In this readable, enjoyable, and informative volume, Elie Mystal offers “an actionable guide to meaningful change” (Publishers Weekly), arguing that these egregiously awful laws—his “Bill of Wrongs”—continue to cause systematic and individual harm and should be repealed completely.
By exposing the flawed foundations of the rules we live by, and through biting humor and insight, Bad Law offers a crisp, pertinent take on:
- abortion, the Hyde Amendment, and the role that federal funding, or lack thereof, has played in depriving women of necessary health and reproductive care
- immigration, illegal reentry, and the illusions that have been sold to us regarding immigration policy, reform, and whiteness at large
- voter registration laws, and how the right to vote has become a moral issue and, ironically, antidemocratic
- gun control, the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, and the extreme yet obvious dangers of granting immunity to gun manufacturers
But, as the man Samantha Bee calls “irrepressible and righteously indignant” points out, these laws do not come to us from on high—we write them, and we can and should unwrite them. In a fierce, funny, and wholly original takedown spanning all the hot-button topics in the country today, one of our most brilliant legal thinkers points the way to a saner tomorrow.
—Russ Feingold, former U.S. senator and president of the American Constitution Society
“Elie Mystal is a grassroots legal superhero, and his superpower is the ability to explain to the masses in clear language the all-too-human forces at play behind the making of our laws. In Bad Law, Mystal also speaks as an irreverent Moses throwing down on the Ten Commandments of Lousy Laws, replacing ‘Thou Shalt Not’ with ‘Should Not Be,’ since this legislation should no longer be on the books or on our backs. Thank God this brilliant and angry prophet doesn’t stutter as he tosses these laws into a burning bush of common sense that fuels the common good.”
—Michael Eric Dyson, university distinguished professor, Vanderbilt University, and New York Times bestselling author of Tears We Cannot Stop
“Nobody can break down the legal systems shaping America today better than Elie Mystal. With the wit of Chris Rock and clarity of Jay-Z, Mystal explains how these laws contribute to systemic inequality, political corruption, societal stagnation and most importantly what must be done to challenge and reform them.”
—Charlamagne tha God, radio host of The Breakfast Club and New York Times bestselling author
“Sure, a theocratic Supreme Court and Trump concierge legislatures are turning hate and bias into ‘laws,’ but at least Elie Mystal is here in Bad Law to warn and explain with clarity and humor—while humor is still legal.”
—Keith Olbermann, sports and political commentator and writer
“A smart, big-picture takedown of the legal bulwarks of white supremacism and its privileges.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“Bad Law cuts through the noise of left-wing infighting to serve as an actionable guide to meaningful change.”
—Publishers Weekly
“A must-read for anyone who cares about the future of this nation.”
—New York Amsterdam News
Elie Mystal is the New York Times bestselling author of Allow Me to Retort: A Black Guy’s Guide to the Constitution (The New Press) as well as The Nation’s legal analyst and justice correspondent, and the legal editor of the More Perfect podcast on the Supreme Court for Radiolab. He is an Alfred Knobler Fellow at Type Media Center, and a frequent guest on MSNBC and Sirius XM. He lives in New York.