Elie Mystal

Alfred Knobler Fellow

Elie Mystal is an Alfred Knobler Fellow at Type Media Center, The Nation‘s Justice Correspondent—covering the courts, the criminal justice system, and politics—and the force behind the magazine’s monthly column, “Objection!”

Mystal is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School, a former associate at Debevoise & Plimpton, and a lifelong New York Mets fans. One of those things is not like the others. Prior to joining Type Media Center, Mystal was the executive editor of Above the Law. He’s a frequent guest on MSNBC and Sirius XM. He will resist.

Books

Bad Law: Ten Popular Laws That Are Ruining America

Elie Mystal

In Bad Law, the New York Times bestselling author of Allow Me To Retort: A Black Guy’s Guide to the Constitution reimagines what our legal system, and society at large, could look like if we could move past legislation plagued by racism, misogyny, and corruption. Through accessible yet detailed prose and trenchant wit, Mystal argues that these egregiously awful laws—his “Bill of Wrongs”—continue to cause systematic and individual harm and should be repealed completely.

Allow Me to Retort: A Black Guy’s Guide to the Constitution

Elie Mystal

Allow Me to Retort is an easily digestible argument about what rights we have, what rights Republicans are trying to take away, and how to stop them.

Highlights

Beware the People Who Claim “America Isn’t Ready for a Black Woman President”

Elie Mystal discusses Kamala Harris’s candidacy, speculating on how, even as she consolidates the entire Democratic Party behind her campaign, there will be people telling her she cannot win because she is a woman of color.

Elie Mystal The Nation

The President Can Now Assassinate You, Officially

Under this new standard, a president can go on a four-to-eight-year crime spree and then retire from public life, never to be held accountable.

Elie Mystal The Nation

The 14th Amendment Isn’t Going to Save Us From Donald Trump

Type Media Center fellow Elie Mystal discusses the impracticality of relying solely on the judicial system to prevent Donald Trump from becoming a candidate on the U.S. election ballot in 2024.

Elie Mystal The Nation

The Fate of Your Rent May Be in the Supreme Court’s Hands

Type Media Center fellow Elie Mystal discusses cases going to the Supreme Court that threaten rent control and stabilization guidelines.

Elie Mystal The Nation

James Ho Wants to Be the Next Clarence Thomas

The Fifth Circuit judge is a far-right extremist and provocateur—and he’s angling for a seat on the Supreme Court.

Elie Mystal The Nation

How Osage Nation Members Struck Back at Decades of Indigenous Misrepresentation in the Media

Killers of the Flower Moon embeds members on both sides of the camera.

Elie Mystal The Nation

This Supreme Court Case Could Make It Even Harder to Tax Rich People

The case Moore v. United States arose over a disputed $15,000 tax bill. It could cost the United States billions.

Elie Mystal The Nation

Biden’s Israel-Palestine Policy Could Cost Him the Election

The president’s blank-check support of Israel’s war on Gaza is alienating many of the Black and brown voters he needs to win reelection.

Elie Mystal The Nation