I know so many people are scratching their heads trying to make heads or tails of this political moment. Some people are getting a real crash course in trying to decipher the difference between laws, norms, rules, and everything in between. I wish I had a law degree some days to help me better understand some of the political events happening in courts across the country at all levels.
Luckily for us, we have someone who writes so eloquently and succinctly to help us decipher (and decode) this political moment. I recently spent time discussing “Bad Law: Ten Popular Laws That Are Ruining America” (The New Press, 2025) by author, legal scholar, and political analyst Elie Mystal. You may know Elie from his signature silver afro, quick wit, and laser-like analysis of the law and how various rulings affect our lives in a myriad of ways.
Some of you may remember Mystal’s first book, “Allow Me To Retort: A Black Guy’s Guide to the Constitution” (The New Press, 2023) which reimagined what our legal system (and society) could look like if we could move past legislation plagued by racism, misogyny, and corruption. “Bad Law” is Mystal’s second New York Times best-selling book, which details and dissects ten pieces of legislation that continue to perpetuate hate, racial bias, injustice, and inequality today. He looks at topics ranging from abortion, immigration and illegal reentry, gun control, and voting rights, to name just a few.
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I am always looking for books that make complicated concepts easy to digest and understand. As The Nation’s legal analyst and justice correspondent, Mystal not only educates his readers on current judicial cases affecting their lives, he helps readers understand how the past practices of the legal system still affect Americans daily.
I am always encouraging my readers of this column to become active participants in their own democracy, and one way we can do this is by educating ourselves. For those who read this column, you also know I believe in supporting Black authors, since there are so many ways the current political climate is seeking to erase our voices, our history, and the ways generations of Americans are inextricably linked by the exclusionary practices baked into the political and justice systems.
“Bad Law” is a must read for anyone who cares about the future of this nation and how we can think more clearly about moving through this moment as well. I am so thankful Mystal’s analysis is so clearly written for those of us who are non-lawyers and legal analysts. The only way we survive this moment is to understand the past in order to better arm ourselves for the legal battles of the present and the future.
Christina Greer, Ph.D., is an associate professor at Fordham University; author of book “How to Build a Democracy: From Fannie Lou Hamer and Barbara Jordan to Stacey Abrams” and “Black Ethnics: Race, Immigration, and the Pursuit of the American Dream” and is co-host of the podcast FAQ-NYC.