Bad Law is a sharp, insightful, and, at moments, unapologetically candid examination of the U.S. legal system. It exposes its many flaws and biases while offering a critique of the ways it serves the interests of the powerful rather than the general public.

The book tackles issues such as racial injustice, the power dynamics at play in legal decision-making, and the often-unseen ways in which the system perpetuates inequality. The author's style is direct, engaging, and often humorous, making a topic that could be dense and inaccessible to many feel both understandable and urgent.

The central idea is that much of American law, particularly in the realms of constitutional interpretation and court rulings, is fundamentally “bad” in the sense that it consistently reinforces existing power structures. The book challenges the myth of “neutral” law, arguing instead that the law often upholds oppressive systems, from policing practices to corporate power. The legal system is not an impartial arbiter but a mechanism that sustains and legitimizes injustice.

Mystal’s ability to explain complex legal concepts and cases in a manner that is accessible to the general reader is a key strength. He uses real-world examples, historical context, and clear analysis to break down how the law functions in practice and how it can be used (and misused) by those in positions of power.

At its core, Bad Law is not just a critique but a call to action. He urges readers to reconsider the law’s supposed sanctity and to advocate for reform that genuinely upholds justice, equity, and fairness. His writing urges readers to confront uncomfortable truths about the American legal system and to demand a system that works for everyone—not just the privileged few.

Overall, the book is compelling and timely as critique of the American legal system that is likely to resonate with those interested in social justice, civil rights, and legal reform.

“The people who pass bad laws need us to be uninformed. The ignorance of the electorate is their greatest weapon. Knowledge is their kryptonite.”

Elie Mystal is not trying to convince the other side of anything at all in this book about the most harmful laws in the United States and how we can repeal them. This book isn’t for the people who voted for Trump and his minions, because these very laws were put in place intentionally by them and their sympathizers to do exactly what they set forth to do. The intent of Elie’s book is to call these laws out, to inform those of us who actually want a real representative democracy for the first time since the birth of the nation, and to give us a road map for what needs to be done to accomplish it.

I am one of those people who reads stacks and stacks of political science and history books for fun, but I learned so much from this book that I thought I was going to break my KIndle highlighting as much as I did. The tone is conversational and irreverent, never condescending or unapproachable, and very frequently righteously indignant and raucously profane. If you don’t like F-bombs, this book won’t be for you. That’s too bad, though, because the amount of knowledge contained in these pages should be required for all voters everywhere.

On the eve of the anniversary of January 6th, imagine my surprise when I read the words, “How then does the Right arise in the Majority to govern the Minority against their will?” John Adams believed that if the minorities (back then the poor and the slaves and women) ignored their “obligation to obey,” that the “powerful white men simply won’t submit to the authority of the government if that government is based on the majority rule of all the people in the country or in a state. He’s saying, straight out, that wealthy whites will reject democracy if democracy does not produce the outcomes desired by the rich and powerful.” This passage stopped me in my tracks. As the “broligarchy” is about to take over the country, the prescience of this book stands supreme. It’s important, it’s gutting, and it’s fiercely defiant. I couldn’t put it down and will be ordering his previous book, “Allow Me to Retort,” immediately.

Thank you, Net Galley, for this Advance Reader Copy.

I really enjoyed this book. As an AP Government teacher with an undergraduate degree in Political Science it was right up my alley. It read very quickly with just enough political information to not bore the average reader but enough to allow me to laugh out loud at certain points. I would love to recommend this book to all readers but I fear this book won’t make it into the hands of the people that need it the most. The author does not hold back on his opinions, which I appreciate. He attacks both sides of the aisle in order to make his points about bad laws.

This book will sit with me for a while and I truly hope those in power will take note and begin the process for change. Our country will never advance if we do not allow for change. Our constitution was not meant to be an unchanging document, for it to only change 17 times since its ratification is unheard of for many democratic governments around the globe.

This was the first book I read from this author but I am immediately going to purchase his other book. The honesty that he provides in his work is much needed and I would highly recommend reading.

Elie Mystal does a fantastic job in writing this type of book, it had that feel that I was looking for and enjoyed the overall concept of this book. It had that legal element that I was looking for and was interested in the humor from the book. It had that research behind it and was informative and fun.

Elie Mystal, Bad Law Ten Popular Laws That Are Ruining America, The New Press, March 2025.

Thank you, NetGalley, for providing me with this uncorrected proof for review.

Elie Mystal does not disappoint in this fiercely passionate, but so cleverly analytical, exposure of the inherent inequality espoused in the ten laws he addresses in this volume. Some of Mystal’s language, as for the first of his books I read, Allow Me to Retort: A Black Guy's Guide to the Constitution could possibly offend. But, how on earth can his language be more offensive than the laws he opens to scrutiny? Let us try to be fair at least in this small contribution to fairness amongst the appalling unfairness Mystal exposes and read with as open a mind as possible. There is plenty to offend, and it is certainly not Mystal and his arguments. He asserts that the facts he presents are correct – he has no problem with having a fact checker! He also acknowledges that this being so, that a reader who disagrees is doing so because of the conclusions he draws from the facts. Although this statement is made in the acknowledgements, I believe it is imperative that it forms part of this review and underpins the reading of this book.

The laws Mystal writes about are related to voting, immigration, airline deregulation, incarceration, shootings in America and arms dealers, the U.S. Capitol attack, murders of Black people, the Second Amendment, abortion, homosexuality, and the influence of religion on laws. In the epilogue he sets out how to deal with the laws that he has effectively argued are ‘bad laws.’ The extensive notes are valuable.

Mystal suggests that readers could question the inclusion of airline deregulation after the horrendous accounts of the impact of the laws governing voting and immigration. However, his explanation for including airline deregulation adds weight to understanding Mystal’s concerns. The background this deregulation provides so much information about the thinking that went into the process, from the perspectives of the political parties’ roles to the political ideology that is the foundation for such deregulation.
I was particularly impressed with Mystal’s criticism of the proposal that bad laws, judgements based in inequality and questionable moral behaviour can be excused as ‘being of their time.’ He correctly suggests that commentators who use this excuse should consider what was happening at the time. Were there no alternative views? No questioning of the inequalities in proposed legalisation? No moral ambiguity about the behaviour? Did every contribution to the debate support the bad laws Mystal exposes? Mystal makes such a valid point here – one that should make us question the ‘of their time’ an argument.

The last point is one of the reasons I find Mystal’s work engrossing. Perhaps it is not necessary to agree with every point he makes. But it certainly is worth coming to grips with these points. “Bad Law Ten Popular Laws That Are Ruining America” is an overwhelming work. While the exposure of bad laws and why they have been developed makes for difficult reading, this is trivial when compared with how the laws impact and the injustices exposed. Thank you, Elie Mystal, for getting the interrogation started.

Thank you, The New Press, for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I just finished Bad Law: Ten Popular Laws That Are Ruining America, by Elie Mystal.

This book will be released on March 25, 2025. It is my second book that I have read by this author. I previously gave Allow Me To Retort an A+ in 2022.

There are so many great points that the author makes and so much material in this book that I’ve decided to go chapter by chapter on his 10 laws (OK, 9 laws plus one constitutional amendment).

Mystal starts with how voter registration laws are a form of voter suppression. He goes into history of voting and explains that John Adams, among others, wanted to restrict voting the “right people” (aka rich white men) and registration is just a modern day way to attempting to limit voting rights. He then tackles immigration in the next chapter on our immigration laws.

After that, we get a discussion of neoliberalism (or, as the author correctly points out, Democrats acting like Republicans) and deregulation—using the airline industry as his example. He then moves on to criminal law. At first, it appears the chapter will be about the 1994 Crime Bill, which while bad, wasn’t the worst federal criminal law on the books. Mystal says “The best way to think about the bill is as the capstone to a decade-long project of criminalizing Blackness and locking up Black youths for the titillation and applause of white voters.” But, instead, the focus is on Reagan’s 1984 crime bill (the Armed Career Criminal Act) and other criminal laws.

We then get a chapter of giving liability immunity to gun manufacturers. Then comes felony murder statutes. For those smart enough not to go to law school, that means charging someone with murder even though they didn’t intend to kill someone while they were committing a different crime. We then move up to the Castle Doctrine, which allows one to kill trespassers even though they presented no threat to them. And when you look at how the law is actually implemented, it means it allows whites to kill blacks who accidentally trespass onto their land without presenting any harm. The same chapter also covers Stand Your Ground laws, which extends that doctrine to anywhere in which a white person feels as if they are threatened by the presence of a black person.

There are also chapters on the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits federal money from being used for abortions. That would be the easiest to repeal, since it is an annual provision in the budget and would just need to have that line deleted.Then there is coverage of “Don’t Say Gay” laws. The book concludes with the RFRA, which “has become the biggest tool in the shed of Christian fundamentalists looking to force their God down other people’s throats. It has perverted the free exercise clause from a shield for the oppressed into a weapon of the oppressors.”



There are so many great arguments in this book. I give it a well-deserved A+ and induct it into the Hall of Fame.

I hope that it will also come out in audiobook version, so I can also listen to it.

Goodreads and NetGalley require grades on a 1-5 star system. In my personal conversion system, an A+ equates to 5 stars. (A or A+: 5 stars, B+: 4 stars, B: 3 stars, C: 2 stars, D or F: 1 star).

This review has been posted at NetGalley, Goodreads and Mr. Book’s Book Reviews

I finished reading this on December 10, 2024.