Contender for a favorite of the year. But that’s understandable because Elie Mystal is knowledgeable and hilarious and can dissect the racist connotations of the American constitution and various laws across the country like nobody’s business.

If his first book “Allow Me to Retort” was about the constitution, this book is about some of the most horrible state or federal laws in the country which do nothing but discriminate against minorities, make lives harder for marginalized communities and give more money and power to corporations. While I knew about some of them, it was still very interesting (and awful) to get to know in detail about the Hyde amendment which places unnecessary burden on poor women who need abortions, which combined with the global gag rule is ruining lives internationally; the PLCAA which makes it impossible to sue gun manufacturers who liberally market mass murder weapons; and the law which disregulated and privatized air travel which has led to the current airline industry which offers nothing good to the consumers. The discriminatory laws regarding incarceration, lgbtq rights and the religious right’s never ending war on secular democracy are also prominent features in the book.

If you are a civic minded resident of the US - citizen or immigrant - you should read this book. It will educate you and make you guffaw and wallow in despair all the same time, but it’s definitely worth it.

Mystal's style is in-your-face yet accessible, blending sharp legal analysis with laugh-out-loud analogies (like “first-person-shooter video game” for gun laws). Each chapter unpacks a law’s history and harm, from felony murder statutes to airline deregulation, and calls for their outright repeal. Mystal’s passion is infectious, and his “Bill of Wrongs” feels like a rallying cry for anyone fed up with a broken system. That said: Some solutions, like overhauling congressional apportionment, feel like long shots. Still, it’s a brilliant, thought-provoking read that’ll make you laugh, fume, and want to vote.

*Bad Law: Ten Popular Laws That Are Ruining America* by Elie Mystal is a sharp, witty, and often hilarious critique of the legal system. Mystal takes on ten laws that he believes are causing more harm than good, from outdated regulations to those that perpetuate inequality. His humor and bold opinions make complex legal topics easy to digest, while also making you think deeply about how laws shape society. Whether you agree or not, Mystal’s passionate and entertaining writing style keeps you hooked from start to finish. It’s a fun, thought-provoking read that will leave you questioning which laws deserve a makeover!

I will confess at the start of this review that I ADORE Elie Mystal. I read everything he writes including his first book, Allow to me Retort: A Black Man's Guide to the Constitution, his articles in The Nation magazine and even all his "tweets" (that are now BlueSky posts). Anyone who can explain laws and politics using Sci-Fi and Fantasy references is right up my alley. His writing is not only very informative and entertaining but he also nails topics right on the head. I cannot count how many times he has deciphered and predicted law decisions that have come to pass exactly as he stated (even if not how he wanted). If you are not following and reading his works, you are missing out on A LOT. Trigger warning - there is definitely cursing involved in his frustrated explanations of current events and laws so be prepared for that but, if that bothers you, I believe it is worth over-looking it for the knowledge you will gain. 10 out of 10 Big Stars!!

I would read Elie Mystal's grocery list. I could listen to him talk all day long. He is well-spoken, well educated, insightful, and absolutely hilarious. I found myself consistently taking notes while I was reading this and I will be pulling them out whenever I need to win an argument with a dumb conservative. Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of the e-arc in exchange for an honest review!

I could read and listen to Elie Mystal discuss law for hours. As a non-lawyer he makes it all very accessible and I very much enjoy and appreciate his humor, snark and appropriate righteous outrage.
I only wish the people who really needed to listen to him would do so. And I wonder why “qualified immunity” was not discussed. And as he instructed…I’m headed to vote in my local election.

As someone who is not a lawyer, this was shockingly accessible and I really appreciated that. This was full of information that I never would have known as someone who really just isn't in a law or political space, but also it gave me a deeper knowledge on things I did know a little bit about. I definitely feel like a more empowered voter and citizen now, and in this current political landscape you really can never know too much (as it may help you along the way). This was great and I think it's a really important and relevant read.

Thank you to NetGalley and The New Press for an eARC copy of Bad Law by Elie Mystal.

If you have yet to read anything by Elie Mystal, I highly recommend that you do. After reading his first book, Allow Me to Retort, I fell in love with the way he writes and presents topics to make them personable and easy to understand. It also helps that Elie Mystal is incredibly funny with he includes quips. While Allow Me to Retort was based on the Constitution, Bad Law reviews ten laws that are awful. Each topic is well researched and there are certainly some you may have never even heard or would have known about. These are laws that are making Americans lives a lot harder and should be reviewed to make sure the people are better represented or repealed completely. Elie Mystal, is one of the best out there and I will continue to argue that his writings are what you know you've been looking for.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the eARC in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts are my own.

Bad Law offers a thought-provoking and critical look at the laws that shape the United States of America. Mystal does a good job of addressing his audience in an engaging and accessible way that demystify the complicated legal landscape and forces audience to think hard and reflect on the legal system of the United States. Each chapter of the book is dedicated to a specific bad law, allowing the exploration of its negative impacts on the American people and the country. Yet, despite the difficult and negative topics, Bad Law's tone is quite witty and humorous, keeping the book from becoming a depressing read.

I definitely recommend this for everyone, whether or not you care for politics. As Elie Mystal makes clear, these bad laws impact everyone, not just those who care.

Bad Law by Elie Mystal is a bold, thought-provoking read that takes a critical look at some of the most influential laws shaping America today. Mystal does an excellent job breaking down complex legal concepts in a way that’s accessible and engaging. His sharp wit and unapologetic tone make for a compelling read that challenges readers to think about the flaws in the legal system. Each chapter tackles a different law, unpacking its impact on society and why it’s doing more harm than good. What I really appreciated was Mystal’s ability to blend humor with serious analysis, making even the most complex topics interesting. This book is a must-read for anyone interested in law, politics, or social justice, as it shines a light on some of the deep-rooted issues that often go unchallenged. Bad Law isn’t just an informative read—it’s a call to action. If you want a book that makes you think and sparks conversation, this one’s for you. 5 stars!

Thank you to NetGalley and The New Press for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

In Bad Law, Mystal critiques the state of America’s democracy (if you can call it that) and explores the important hot topics of immigration, voting rights, abortion, neoliberalism, the criminal justice system and religious freedom, among others. In doing so, he highlights which laws have enabled the white male ruling class to turn the US government into a tool for subjugation and reflection of archaic Christian ideology.

Being an Australian who is not well versed in US laws did not prevent me from being fully involved in this book. Mystal uses accessible and clear language to explain the laws and concepts and then critiques them with wickedly irreverent humour that had me genuinely laughing out loud at times.

As with any work of critical nonfiction, the book is infused with the author’s biases. However, it was incredibly refreshing that Mystal did not feign neutrality and was upfront about how his experience and identity informed his opinions. This allowed for a transparent and informed reading experience that I wish was more common in this genre.

The only major downfall about this book is that the people who need to read it most are unlikely to ever pick it up.

SHARED:
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Elie's on-the-ground legal experience gives him deep knowledge of his subject that goes well beyond the theoretical understanding I find in other sources. He speaks about a system of broken laws with a wry and often impatient tone that jumps off the page and compels me to keep turning the page.

4.75/5 rounded up - Thank you to NetGalley for this eARC in exchange for an honest review. I was intrigued by this book frankly because of the author's twitter account, in which he is always coming in with smart, thoughtful, biting, and hilarious takes on social justice and our political system. I was hoping this book would have all of that clear-cutting logic combined with wit and humor and boy did it deliver. The introduction is one of the best introductions that I've ever read, because it gives us a succinct portrait of who the author is, the exact perspective he is coming from when writing this, and who his audience is:

"If you are new here, hello. My name is Elie Mystal. I'm no longer a lawyer, but I play one on TV. I'm also a columnist and author. I talk and write because I'm not good at marching and fighting. I approach law from the perspective of activism and advocacy, which is an intellectually acceptable way to say I'm biased as fuck."..."Obviously, I think my biases are righteous and other people's biases are misguided, but its important to understand when reading me that I'm not trying to convince other people. You can read many books that try to appeal and persuade people on 'both sides' of an issue, but that is not my mission."

So if you read the introduction and its not for you, I would not read further. In fact if you read the table of contents and feel yourself getting defensive, this book is not for you. Chapter titles include but are not limited to "Why isn't everyone registered to vote?...Why do we incarcerate so many people?...Why do we give White guys a license to kill Black people?...How did they fit the federal budget inside people's wombs?...Why can't we say gay?". However, if these chapters address issues that you think about a lot, that cause you a great deal of pain, that you spend much of your time worrying about and feel helpless to change, then I think you will enjoy this book immensely. Because each chapter outlines a single law - what it actually says, how it came to be, the historical context and motivations for its creation, the consequences resulting from it, and how the singular action of repealing it would cause a great deal of structural change. In a system that feels so impossibly complicated and overbearing, it is refreshing and motivating to understand how pushing for a single action on a single issue in the form of a repeal can cause the change we are hoping for. Not to say that repealing laws is easy, the author explains exactly why and how it is so difficult in each case, but it is a clear, possible path, that cuts through the chaos and helplessness (at least in my mind).

While fully explaining his bias, the author sets up the no-nonsense tone of the book by also not leaving anyone safe. He is on HIS side, which doesn't mean one political party is always good. Everyone can be at fault. There is no objective ultimate truth or goodness, only the rules that imperfect people have set up. Again this is set up immediately in the introduction:

"The law is not a set of objective rules. It's an amalgam of our subjective choices....Our choices have ben shitty. That's because, for the most part, 'we' do not get to participate in the choosing of our laws. Not all of us, not in this country. America is a place where we specifically prohibited Black people and women from participating in the decisions about which laws we'd have for nearly two hundred years."

I also cannot emphasize enough how much I learned from this book about just basic civics and legal terms. Its a little embarrassing how much I didn't know, and how these definitions and details are absolutely crucial to how these laws are set up and carried out. For example, he discusses in the second chapter that most of U.S. Immigration law falls under civil law, that deportation is a civil penalty, and because it is under civil law, violations leading to deportation do not receive the same legal protections we think of being assumed in criminal law such as due process and access to a lawyer. He then goes on to explain that some immigration offenses ARE criminal violations, illegal entry and illegal reentry, and that those are very different things. In chapter 4 he uses airline regulation to discuss the concept of neoliberalism and why it appealed to so many democratic leaning folks at the time but often ended up serving a conservative agenda. Another example is in chapter 6 where he discusses the felony murder law and how the way that it is worded and applied allows for a felony murder charge when there is no murderous intent (instead of manslaughter which is the usual charge when someone dies but there was no intent). This is maybe revealing more about my ignorance than telling you about the book, but hopefully its giving you some sense of the kind of information discussed.

The epilogue again is so well-crafted and mirrors the introduction and the main thesis of the book: "Every law in this book can be repealed by an act of Congress or an act of state legislatures. Every bad law can be replaced by a good one. Nothing is written in stone. Our world is not inevitable."

And then he just hits with an absolute stunner out of nowhere "The United States has the least representative democracy among the wealthy nations of the world. Thats not a vibe, its a fact. Each member of the U.S. House of Representatives (our most local member of the national government) represents on average 760,000 people. The next least representative government after us is Japan, where each proportionally representative member of the Japanese Shugiin (Japan's equivalent of our lower house) is responsible for an average of 270,000 people." And then goes on to explain much more about that.

So yes I found it super eye-opening, engaging, and funny. If you are more versed in legalese this may be basic but I think the tone and quips will still make it entertaining. The only negative thing I have to say is that it could have been a bit longer and more fleshed out. It went really fast through some of the concepts in certain chapters and I'm having a hard time remembering them because I don't think I fully understood in the first place. That's not really the book's fault of course. Anyway, I will be definitely going back to read the author's first book and look forward to any future works!

As a European law student, it's fascinating to explore the intricacies of the U.S. common law system and how deeply it is entrenched in societal inequalities. The way it has been used to perpetuate systems of oppression is particularly eye-opening, especially in light of events like the overturning of Roe v. Wade and the threat to other crucial laws under the current administration. Elie Mystal’s Bad Law is an unflinching exploration of the ten most damaging laws in America, where he exposes their harmful effects on everyday people and argues for their repeal. With his signature blend of sharp legal insight and unapologetic humor, Mystal takes on issues like voting rights, abortion, immigration, and more, breaking them down with precision and clarity.

What sets Bad Law apart is not just its in-depth legal analysis, but also Mystal’s commitment to making complex legal concepts accessible and engaging. His witty, often irreverent tone keeps the material from feeling overly dense, making it approachable without sacrificing substance. Mystal delves into the historical and political underpinnings of each law, showing how they were created to serve the interests of the powerful, rather than the people. The result is a book that doesn’t just critique the legal system—it calls for meaningful change, urging readers to question the supposed sanctity of laws that perpetuate inequality.

Ultimately, Bad Law is both a powerful critique and a call to action. Mystal emphasizes the need for reform, pointing out that as long as these laws remain intact, they will continue to shape the nation’s future in ways that harm the most vulnerable. This book is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the legal mechanisms that sustain injustice and is determined to see them undone.

This should be required reading for every voter in America, and, more importantly, every politician in America. One by one, Mystal goes through the ten worst popular laws, expxlains what they were supposed to do, what they actually do, why they are so awful, and what to do about them. But it isn't until the epilogue that he reaches what I considered the most important point: that among large representative government, we are the *least* representative, and how and why this almost guarantees bad laws remaining on the books. Highly recommended.

Elie Mystal is right about everything! People tend to conflate legality with morality, and Mystal points out how some laws are bad and what we can do about it when the legal system doesn't work for the people like it is supposed to.

An informative book, definitely important to read in 2025. I really appreciate the acknowledgement that readers may have supported the laws written about and that it is alright, what really matters is being open to learn. I don’t love books with clear bias, but I do respect that the author is very upfront about said bias.

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.