Elie Mystal Jr. is an American attorney, writer, and political commentator. He is the justice correspondent at The Nation, where he writes about the courts and the criminal justice system1. Mystal was born on May 10, 1978, and is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School1. He is the author of the New York Times bestseller, “Allow Me to Retort: A Black Guy’s Guide to the Constitutionâ€Â 1.
In his book, Mystal provides an easily digestible argument about what rights we have, what rights Republicans are trying to take away, and how to stop them 1. Mystal has described himself as a liberal and has been an outspoken supporter of civil rights, abortion rights, and legal rights and protections for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people 1.
Mystal is a former associate and litigator at the Debevoise & Plimpton law firm and a former executive editor of the Above the Law legal news website 1. He has made guest appearances on MSNBC and Sirius XM 1. As of 2022, he was a board member of Demand Justice, a liberal judicial advocacy group 1.