Bad Law: Ten Popular Laws That Are Ruining America

Mystal (Allow Me to Retort), the Nation’s legal analyst and justice correspondent, sharply critiques the current state of American democracy in this acerbic discussion of 10 laws that he argues must be repealed because of the “massive social or political harm” they cause. He asserts that all of them, which include restrictions on voter registration and rules holding criminals liable for deaths that arise from attempted felonies, are “just as bigoted, ignorant, and unfair as redlining.” A few of the chapters cover familiar ground, such as stand-your-ground laws and laws enforcing right-wing school curricula, but Mystal also makes some less intuitive connections. For instance, he links the rise of neoliberalism to the 1978 enactment of the Airline Deregulation Act, pinpointing it as “the moment when the Democratic Party turned its back” on the New Deal and the Great Society and “instead adopted the language of free market, unregulated claptrap pushed by capitalist thugs.” Mystal concludes by perceptively positing that the fundamental reform required as a prerequisite for all the others is to make American democracy more representative by mandating that each congressperson represent as few people as Wyoming’s population of 580,000 (which would currently add 158 new members). This cuts through the noise of left-wing infighting to serve as an actionable guide to meaningful change. (Mar.)