Andrew P. Napolitano
Articles by Andrew P. Napolitano
Whatever happened to freedom of speech?
Here is a pop quiz: If the states ratified an amendment to the Constitution repealing the First Amendment, would we still enjoy the freedom of speech? Published November 15, 2023
Unconstitutional: U.S. presidents restrain personal liberty, kill with impunity
The Biden administration is killing people, openly in Ukraine and Gaza and secretly around the world. Published November 8, 2023
Great man in Moscow Edward Snowden: Stateless but not voiceless
When the Trump administration obtained an indictment of Edward Snowden for violating the Espionage Act of 1917, many of us who believe that the Fourth Amendment means what it says were deeply critical of the government. Published November 1, 2023
Biden, military force and the Constitution
Can the president fight any war he wishes? Can Congress fund any war it chooses? Are there constitutional and legal requirements that must first be met before war is waged? Published October 25, 2023
Guantanamo: A constitutional debacle
When President George W. Bush formulated the concept of an American Devil's Island in Cuba, he did so heedless of the damage to the Constitution his experiment in torture and confinement without end would bring about. Published October 11, 2023
Government evades the Constitution
Six months ago, FBI officials boasted that in 2022, their agents had spied on only 120,000 Americans without search warrants! Under the Constitution, that number should be zero. Published October 4, 2023
When the state punishes thoughts: Evaluating the Jan. 6th Proud Boys sedition convictions
Four members of the Proud Boys were recently convicted of sedition in federal court in Washington. Published September 27, 2023
Why does Donald Trump say things that are so harmful to his legal interests?
In a "Meet the Press" interview conducted last week, former President Donald Trump made a compelling case highlighting the differences between his years in office and President Biden's. Published September 20, 2023
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s gun decree violates federal law
Last week, the governor of New Mexico confronted what she claimed was a health crisis, and her solution was to deny her law-abiding constituents the right to bear arms. Published September 13, 2023
Is the CIA in your underwear?
In a year, if a friend asks you if the CIA is in your underwear, you probably wouldn't take the question seriously. You'd be wrong. The CIA is spending millions in tax dollars to get into your underwear next year. Published September 6, 2023
Neither liberty nor safety: Giving up one’s rights is a personal choice
Benjamin Franklin's famous one-liner about the relationship between liberty and safety has intrigued me since I first read it in high school. Published August 30, 2023
American government’s torture tactics come home to roost
Nothing is more destructive of human decency, nothing is less fruitful in seeking truth, nothing is more totalitarian and nothing so undermines the government's own cases as its use of torture. Published August 23, 2023
When the First Amendment dies: Raid on Kansas weekly newspaper raises troubling concerns
When freedom of speech and freedom of the press die, it will happen by a thousand small cuts. Published August 16, 2023
Importance of the Fourth Amendment: FBI unwittingly investigates itself
This past April, the FBI began an investigation to determine who was using illegal software to spy from the United States on people in Mexico. Published August 9, 2023
Individuals, not government, enjoy the freedom of speech
"Congress shall make no law ... abridging the freedom of speech." -- First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution Published August 2, 2023
FBI illegally accessed Americans’ communications 278,000 times last year
Late last week, a judge on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court revealed that he had had enough of the FBI and Congress trashing the Constitution. Published July 26, 2023
What if government is the negation of liberty?
What if liberty and democracy are opposites? What if the principle underlying liberty is to restrain the government to maximize individual autonomy? Published July 19, 2023
Governments hate and fear the exercise of natural rights
The world is filled with self-evident truths -- truisms -- that philosophers, lawyers and judges know need not be proved. Published July 12, 2023
Independence Day 2023: Our out-of-control democracy
Does it really matter if the instrument curtailing liberty is a monarch or a popularly elected legislature? Published July 5, 2023
Congress has not declared war on Russia, but it has authorized use of U.S. forces against it
Can the president fight any war he wishes? Can Congress fund any war it chooses? Are there constitutional, legal and moral requirements that must first be met before war is waged? Published June 28, 2023