Elie Mystal

Justice Correspondent & Columnist

@ElieNYC

Elie Mystal is The Nation’s justice correspondent and the host of its legal podcast, Contempt of Court. He is also an Alfred Knobler Fellow at the Type Media Center. His first book is the New York Times bestseller Allow Me to Retort: A Black Guy’s Guide to the Constitution, published by The New Press. Elie can be followed @ElieNYC.

Conservatives Have a Sketchy New Legal Plot to Ban the Abortion Pill

Conservatives Have a Sketchy New Legal Plot to Ban the Abortion Pill Conservatives Have a Sketchy New Legal Plot to Ban the Abortion Pill

By forum-shopping their way to a hearing before a zealot judge, conservatives hope to win an unwinnable case—and not for the first time.

Jan 26, 2023 / Elie Mystal

The Supreme Court’s Big Investigation Into the “Dobbs” Leak Was a Big Fake

The Supreme Court’s Big Investigation Into the “Dobbs” Leak Was a Big Fake The Supreme Court’s Big Investigation Into the “Dobbs” Leak Was a Big Fake

The institution whose members claim to have the power to see into the minds of dead people couldn’t figure out who leaked the Dobbs draft.

Jan 19, 2023 / Elie Mystal

Does Kathy Hochul Really Want to Go Down With Hector LaSalle’s Sinking Ship?

Does Kathy Hochul Really Want to Go Down With Hector LaSalle’s Sinking Ship? Does Kathy Hochul Really Want to Go Down With Hector LaSalle’s Sinking Ship?

The governor’s stubborn embrace of her pick for chief judge has already revealed some troubling truths about her political instincts—and beliefs.

Jan 19, 2023 / Elie Mystal

An Appeals Court Wants to Bring Back Bump Stocks, Beloved by Mass Shooters

An Appeals Court Wants to Bring Back Bump Stocks, Beloved by Mass Shooters An Appeals Court Wants to Bring Back Bump Stocks, Beloved by Mass Shooters

The decision by the Fifth Circuit is a painful lesson in why one-off weapons bans are doomed to fail in court, if not in practice.

Jan 13, 2023 / Elie Mystal

Chief Justice of the United States John Roberts

The Supreme Court Is About to Make It Even Riskier to Strike The Supreme Court Is About to Make It Even Riskier to Strike

The Roberts court is famously anti-union. With Glacier Northwest v. Teamsters, it’s poised to make it easier for employers to sue striking workers.

Jan 11, 2023 / Editorial / Elie Mystal

Boxes of the drug mifepristone

Biden & Co. Are Finally Bringing Some Firepower to the Abortion Fight Biden & Co. Are Finally Bringing Some Firepower to the Abortion Fight

With two small but significant moves, the Biden administration has made abortion pills more widely available. 

Jan 5, 2023 / Elie Mystal

The “Faces” of Black Conservatism Tell Us Everything—About the GOP

The “Faces” of Black Conservatism Tell Us Everything—About the GOP The “Faces” of Black Conservatism Tell Us Everything—About the GOP

Republicans’ embrace of Kanye West and Herschel Walker says more about how the GOP thinks about Black people than it does about Black conservatism in America.

Dec 28, 2022 / Column / Elie Mystal

We Didn’t Need to See Trump’s Taxes

We Didn’t Need to See Trump’s Taxes We Didn’t Need to See Trump’s Taxes

It has no political upside.

Dec 22, 2022 / Elie Mystal

DOJ Lawyers Are Cowards if They Don’t Indict Trump

DOJ Lawyers Are Cowards if They Don’t Indict Trump DOJ Lawyers Are Cowards if They Don’t Indict Trump

The January 6 committee gave Merrick Garland's Department of Justice more than enough to charge Donald Trump.

Dec 19, 2022 / Elie Mystal

Demonstrators rally for voting rights outside the US Supreme Court Building

The Court Case That Could Legalize the Next Coup The Court Case That Could Legalize the Next Coup

If the Supreme Court reaches the wrong decision in Moore v. Harper, it could legitimize a dangerous new theory of who decides how elections work.

Dec 8, 2022 / Elie Mystal

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