Andrew P. Napolitano

"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 and Personal Freedom”

Last week, at a pretrial hearing at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba for Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, a Saudi who is charged with being the mastermind of an attack on the USS Cole in 2000 at which 17 American sailors were killed, the psychologist in charge of interrogating Nashiri described in vivid detail both the … Continue reading “Bloody Gina and Her Team of Torturers”

Last week, the Director of National Intelligence, the data-gathering and data-concealing arm of the American intelligence community masquerading as the head of it, revealed that in 2021, the FBI engaged in 3.4 million warrantless electronic searches of Americans. This is a direct and profound violation of the right to privacy in "persons, houses, papers, and … Continue reading “The Bill of Temporary Privileges”

Most judges and lawyers agree that the war on drugs in the past 50 years has seriously diminished the right to privacy guaranteed by the Fourth Amendment. Now a small group of legal academics is arguing that the war in Ukraine should be used to diminish property rights guaranteed by the Fifth Amendment. Here is … Continue reading “Using War To Assault Freedom”

President Joseph R. Biden caused a stir in the media last week when he called Russian President Vladimir Putin "a war criminal." Biden’s statement was apparently made to capitalize on the government’s and the American media’s monolithic anti-Russian messaging. Is Putin a war criminal? In a word: No. Here is the backstory. Criminals are persons … Continue reading “Is Putin a War Criminal?”

Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Biden administration has undertaken a vast scheme against Russian economic actors, which it characterizes as "sanctions." The scheme consists in seizing assets, freezing assets, and prohibiting lawful and constitutionally protected commercial transactions. All of this is aimed at dissuading Russian President Vladimir Putin from his determination to use … Continue reading “Sanctions on Russia Violate the Constitution”

Last week, a bitterly divided Supreme Court dismissed a case brought by a detainee at the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba against the Department of Justice because the government claimed the information sought in the case was a state secret, the revelation of which will impair national security. The plaintiff in the … Continue reading “The Torturers’ Apprentice”

After a jury in 2006 declined to impose the death penalty on Zacarias Moussaoui, who had just pleaded guilty to being the 20th 9/11 hijacker, the government announced that another person was the 20th. Yet, that person, Mohammed al-Qahtani, was ordered released from the U.S. Naval prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, last week. Here is … Continue reading “Military Torturers at Guantanamo Bay”

In the past month, this column has twice addressed the unbridled propensity of federal intelligence agencies to spy on Americans without search warrants as required by the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. These agencies believe that the Fourth Amendment – which protects the individual right to privacy – only regulates law enforcement and does … Continue reading “CIA Spies and Their Collaborators”

Three weeks ago, this column reported on warnings issued by the Biden administration about the dangers of spyware. Spyware is software that permits the user to hack a computer unseen, unheard and undetected. The manufacturer of the warned-about spyware is an Israeli company called NSO, and its product is called Pegasus. Pegasus permits its users … Continue reading “Allowing the FBI To Use Pegasus Spyware Is an Attack on Liberty”