Andrew P. Napolitano

Taking liberty for granted

No one knows if Thomas Jefferson personally uttered those words. They have been widely attributed to him, but they don't appear in any of his writings. If he did not literally utter them, he uttered the sentiments they offer. They remind us not to take liberty for granted. Published June 2, 2021

Community caretaking ruse: Can the police enter a private home without a search warrant?

Warrantless searches and seizures are unreasonable -- and thus unconstitutional -- unless they fall into the "exigent circumstances" exception. Published May 26, 2021

Phil Murphy and the government’s emergency powers myth

Last week, the media in New Jersey began to ask Gov. Phil Murphy when he would surrender his emergency powers. Published May 19, 2021

Can federal judges alter the Constitution?

A writ of habeas corpus is the ancient individual right of every person confined by the government to require the government to justify the confinement under the law to a neutral judge. Published May 12, 2021

More unconstitutional U.S. government spying and lying

Twice last week, the federal government's unconstitutional spying on ordinary Americans was exposed. Published May 5, 2021

Biden’s unconstitutional debt burdens future generations

Earlier this week, President Biden 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. Published April 28, 2021

Using free market options when Big Tech censors free speech

A colleague recently asked me if I approved of Big Tech censoring political and cultural voices on their platforms. Published April 21, 2021

Biden determined to infringe on the right of Americans to keep and bear arms

The law today is not what it was when Joe Biden came of age. Today, the right to keep and bear arms is recognized unambiguously as a personal, fundamental, pre-political, natural right. Published April 14, 2021

Enduring the tyranny of the Democrats’ majority

Does it really matter if the instrument curtailing liberty is a monarch or a popularly elected legislature? Published April 7, 2021

Hope for the dead and living, Easter’s meaning

What does Easter mean? Easter means that there's hope for the dead. If there's hope for the dead, then there's hope for the living. Published March 31, 2021

Questions to consider about democracy, the Constitution and personal liberties

What if liberty and democracy are opposites? What if the principle underlying liberty is to restrain the government to maximize individual autonomy? Published March 24, 2021

Violating the Constitution and the coming war on privacy

The government loves to give the impression that it has caught bad guys before they struck, thereby keeping us safe. Don't believe it. Published March 17, 2021

Congress must restrict president’s power to make war

The United States is not at war with Syria. It is not at war with the militias that were bombed, and it didn't seek or have the permission of the Syrian government to enter its air space. Published March 10, 2021

Silencing free speech on college campuses

Last week produced news about the suppression of speech on university campuses. There, the suppression usually occurs through the power of intimidation before the speech is given. Published March 3, 2021

Do American citizens own their faces?

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. Published February 24, 2021

Trump, impeachment and the defiance of the Constitution

The U.S. 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. Published February 17, 2021

Biden and Democrats reignite the abortion wars

There have been rumblings among Democrats to make it more difficult for the Supreme Court to invalidate or permit states to gnaw away at Roe v. Wade. Published February 10, 2021

American government’s surveillance kills freedom

When Justice Louis D. Brandeis referred to the right to privacy as "the right to be let alone," it was 1928. Published February 3, 2021

Americans under surveillance: Defense Intelligence Agency violated Constitution

In the DIA memo, the government acknowledged for the first time that it willingly and knowingly has violated the Constitution. Published January 27, 2021