Andrew P. Napolitano

“Oh, what a tangled web we weave When first we practice to deceive.” ~ Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832) The case of the Gitmo plea agreement keeps getting curiouser and curiouser. A few weeks ago, we learned that a plea agreement had been entered into by way of a signed contract between the retired general in … Continue reading “Guantanamo: Deal or No Deal?”

“Congress shall make no law… abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press.” ~ First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution When James Madison agreed to be the scrivener at the Constitutional Convention during the summer of 1787, he could not have known that just four years later he’d be the chair of the House of Representatives committee drafting the Bill … Continue reading “A Brief History of Free Speech in America”

It is always dangerous to human freedom and due process when politics interferes with criminal prosecutions. Yet, present-day America is replete with tawdry examples of this. The recent exposures of the political machinations of the Chief Justice of the United States in the presidential immunity case is just one sad example of the highest judge … Continue reading “Gitmo and Politics”

In 1966, two famous Russian literary dissidents, Yuli Daniel and Andrei Sinyavsky, were tried and convicted on charges of disseminating propaganda against the Soviet state. The two were authors and humorists who published satire abroad that mocked Soviet leaders for failure to comply with the Soviet Constitution of 1936, which guaranteed the freedom of speech. … Continue reading “Free Speech and the Department of Political Justice”

“America goes not abroad in search of monsters to destroy … She might become the dictatress of the world, But she would no longer be the ruler of her own spirit.” ~ John Quincy Adams (1767-1848) In the middle of his term as Secretary of State, the future president John Quincy Adams addressed a joint … Continue reading “Searching for Monsters”

Among the lesser-known holes in the Constitution cut by the Patriot Act of 2001 was the destruction of the “wall” between federal law enforcement and federal spies. The wall was erected in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978, which statutorily limited all federal domestic spying to that which was authorized by the Foreign Intelligence … Continue reading “The FBI ‘Visits’ Scott Ritter”

In the months following the attacks of 9/11, the government laid the blame for orchestrating them on Osama bin Laden. Then, after it murdered bin Laden, the government decided that the true mastermind was Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. By the time of bin Laden’s death, Mohammed had already been tortured by CIA agents for three years … Continue reading “Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and the Problem of Torture”

Sometime before he withdrew from the presidential race, President Joe Biden secretly reaffirmed his own self-willed and self-created authority to kill persons in other countries, so long as the CIA and its military counterparts have “near certainty” that the target of the homicide is a member of a terrorist organization. That standard was concocted by … Continue reading “When Presidents Kill”

“I prefer the tumult of liberty to the quiet of servitude.” ~ Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) It wasn’t until 1969 that the Supreme Court’s modern First Amendment jurisprudence made it clear that whenever there is a clash between the government and a person over the constitutionality of the person’s speech, the courts will give every benefit and draw every … Continue reading “Julian Assange Is Free!”

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? Can the United States legally attack an ally? These questions should be front and center in a debate over the U.S. involvement in Ukraine. Sadly, … Continue reading “Does the Constitution Apply to Biden’s War in Ukraine?”