Last weekend, President Joseph R. Biden Jr. ordered the U.S. military to bomb targets in Syria and Iraq in an effort “to send a clear and unambiguous deterrent message” to Iran. It is apparently the belief of the Biden administration — as it has been with Biden’s three immediate presidential […]
Judge Andrew Napolitano
19 posts
Last week, The New York Times revealed that in late 2017 and early 2018, prosecutors in the Department of Justice persuaded a federal grand jury to subpoena the telephone, email and texting records of about 20 people, including two members of Congress and their families, staffs and investigators, and one […]
For the first time in American history, a federal judge last week authorized the government to admit as evidence in a criminal case in a public courtroom words uttered by the defendant that were obtained under torture. The fruits of torture — which is any cruel or degrading or intentionally […]
For a government without the consent of those it governs is invalid and illicit -- and of no lawful authority. It only endures when masses of folks and shapers of opinion take liberty for granted.
Edward and Kim Caniglia had an argument in their Cranston, Rhode Island, home, during which Edward retrieved a lawfully owned unloaded handgun and placed it on their dining room table in front of Kim and said to his wife, “Shoot me now, and get it over with.” Kim did not […]
“The Constitution of the United States is a law for rulers and people, equally in war and in peace, and covers with the shield of its protection all classes of men, at all times and under all circumstances. No doctrine involving more pernicious consequences was ever invented by the wit […]
“No person shall be… deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law.” — Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution Last year, a detainee at the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, filed a writ of habeas corpus in a federal district court in Washington, D.C. — […]
Twice last week, the federal government’s unconstitutional spying on ordinary Americans was exposed. One of these revelations was made by a federal judge in Washington, D.C., who wrote that the FBI is still using warrantless spying in criminal cases, notwithstanding the Constitution and federal laws. The other revelation was a […]
Earlier this week, President Joseph R. Biden Jr. asked Congress to raise taxes and increase borrowing so his administration can spend $2.3 trillion — on top of the $1.9 trillion Congress authorized two months ago for so-called COVID relief — for thousands of projects he calls “infrastructure.” All this is […]
A colleague recently asked me if I approved of Big Tech censoring political and cultural voices on their platforms. My colleague believes — as do I — in natural rights, minimal government and that owners of private property can use it as they see fit. We both condemned the Big […]
“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” — Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. President Joseph R. Biden Jr. recently announced his determination to use his powers as the chief […]
“Which is better — to be ruled by one tyrant three thousand miles away, or three thousand tyrants one mile away?” — Rev. Mather Blyes (1706-1788) Does it really matter if the instrument curtailing liberty is a monarch or a popularly elected legislature? This conundrum, along with the witty version […]
That God, which ever lives and loves, One God, one law, one element, And one far-off divine event To which the whole creation moves. — Alfred Lord Tennyson (1809-1892) When American colonists were oppressed by governance from Britain, the word most frequently uttered in pamphlets and editorials and sermons was […]
What if liberty and democracy are opposites? What if the principle underlying liberty is to restrain the government to maximize individual autonomy? What if the principle underlying democracy is to unleash the government to give the people whatever they want? What if personal liberty is an individual birthright because we […]
When Attorney General Merrick Garland was asked at his confirmation hearings earlier this month what his priorities would be if confirmed, he responded immediately that it would be a vigorous pursuit of domestic terrorism. He did not say he would lead vigorous prosecutions, just vigorous pursuits. This is dangerous business […]
Two weeks ago, while the House of Representatives was finalizing its 700-page legislation authorizing the Treasury to borrow and spend $1.9 trillion in the next six months, and the Senate was attempting to confirm more of President Joseph R. Biden’s cabinet nominees, Biden secretly ordered the Pentagon to bomb militias […]
“In short, we do not need good laws to restrain bad men. We need good men to restrain bad laws.” — G.K. Chesterton (1874-1936) Why do people in power try to silence speech with which they disagree? Last week produced news about the suppression of speech on university campuses. There, […]
After listening to Dr. Anthony Fauci suggest last weekend that we should expect to be wearing two masks on our faces everywhere we go until the end of 2022, I began thinking again about first principles. Fauci is entitled to express his opinions. Yet, because he is the president’s chief […]
The Constitution is the supreme law of the land, thus, all government behavior must conform to it. It is, of course, notwithstanding its supremacy, an imperfect document. Its original iteration in 1789 — and even after the addition of the Bill of Rights in 1791 — implicitly recognized slavery, permitted […]