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Andrew P. Napolitano

Andrew P. Napolitano

anapolitano123@washingtontimes.com

Andrew P. Napolitano, a former judge of the Superior Court of New Jersey, is an analyst for the Fox News Channel. He has written seven books on the U.S. Constitution.

Articles by Andrew P. Napolitano

Illustration on rights and privacy by Linas Garsys/The Washington Times

How the government infringes on the right to be left alone

Great Britain is currently the most watched country in the Western world -- watched, that is, by its own police forces. In London alone, the police have erected more than 420,000 surveillance cameras in public places.

September 18, 2019
Attack on Free Speech Illustration by Linas Garsys/The Washington Times

Who cares what the government thinks?

In 1791, when Congressman James Madison was drafting the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution, which would become known as Bill of Rights, he insisted that the most prominent amendment among them restrain the government from interfering with the freedom of speech.

September 11, 2019
Adjudicating the Constitution Illustration by Greg Groesch/The Washington Times

The temptation of tyranny

Does the president of the United States have too much power? That question has been asked lately with respect to President Donald Trump's use of federal funds to construct 175 miles of sporadic walls along portions of the 2,000-mile common border between Texas and Mexico.

September 4, 2019
In this Monday, July 15, 2019, file photo, U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn, second from left, speaks, as U.S. Reps., from left, Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich.,Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., listen, during a news conference at the Capitol in Washington. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

The limits of free speech

During the past week, President Donald Trump excited two bitter public controversies by sending and publishing two highly inappropriate and offensively incendiary tweets.

July 17, 2019
This photo made available by the U.S. National Archives shows a portion of the United States Constitution with Articles V-VII. For the past two centuries, constitutional amendments have originated in Congress, where they need the support of two-thirds of both houses, and then the approval of at least three-quarters of the states. But under a never-used second prong of Article V, amendments can originate in the states. (National Archives via AP)

The Constitution, the census and citizenship

Late last month, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on a challenge to a question that the Commerce Department announced it would add to the 2020 census. The census itself has been mandated by the U.S. Constitution to be taken every 10 years so that representation in the House of Representatives could be fairly apportioned to reflect population changes.

July 10, 2019
This photo made available by the U.S. National Archives shows a portion of the United States Constitution with the title of Article V. For the past two centuries, constitutional amendments have originated in Congress, where they need the support of two-thirds of both houses, and then the approval of at least three-quarters of the states. But under a never-used second prong of Article V, amendments can originate in the states. (National Archives via AP) ** FILE **

Can government punish twice for the same crime?

Last week, this column discussed the unconstitutional efforts of federal prosecutors in Chicago to punish an American citizen for crimes that had not yet been committed. This week, I address the wish of federal prosecutors in Alabama to charge and to punish a man for a crime for which he had already been convicted and punished.

June 19, 2019
This photo made available by the U.S. National Archives shows a portion of the United States Constitution with Articles V-VII. For the past two centuries, constitutional amendments have originated in Congress, where they need the support of two-thirds of both houses, and then the approval of at least three-quarters of the states. But under a never-used second prong of Article V, amendments can originate in the states. (National Archives via AP)

Trashing the Constitution again

While the eyes of the political and media classes were on President Donald Trump as he commemorated the 75th anniversary of D-Day in the United Kingdom and in France last week, and then as we all watched for progress in the tariff war Mr. Trump started with Mexico, the Department of Justice was quietly trying to persuade a federal judge in Chicago to abandon first principles with respect to citizenship and sentencing.

June 12, 2019
Illustration by M. Ryder/Tribune Content Agency

Mueller stirs the pot

Last week, special counsel Robert Mueller — who had been appointed by the Department of Justice two years earlier to investigate the nature and extent of Russian attempts to influence the outcome of the 2016 presidential election and to determine, if those attempts did occur, whether the Russians had any willing American collaborators in the Trump campaign — came to the cameras and announced his resignation.

June 5, 2019
President Donald Trump delivers a statement in the Rose Garden of the White House, Wednesday, May 22, 2019, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

To impeach or not to impeach

The revelation last weekend by Michigan Republican Congressman Justin Amash that he believes the Mueller report accuses President Donald Trump of impeachable offenses has ignited firestorms in both major political parties on Capitol Hill. Mr. Amash's argument is simple and essentially unassailable, though his fellow congressional Republicans don't want to hear it and Democrats don't know what to do with it.

May 22, 2019
President Donald Trump waves upon arrival at the White House in Washington from a trip to Louisiana, Tuesday, May 14, 2019. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

For many years, the fear of a president as king was unthinkable, but now it’s not

There was a time in American history — nearly all of it up to the presidency of Woodrow Wilson — when the federal government followed basic constitutional norms. With some unique and discrete exceptions, like the Civil War, Congress wrote the laws, the president enforced them, whether he agreed with them or not, and the judiciary interpreted them and assessed their compatibility to the U.S. Constitution. This is the separation of powers.

May 15, 2019
Barr Oath Illustration by Greg Groesch/The Washington Times

Did the attorney general deceive Congress?

William Barr, the attorney general of the United States, now faces a likely contempt citation for failing to comply with a congressional subpoena and for misleading Congress.

May 8, 2019
Attorney General William Barr responds as he is asked a question from Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., as he testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, May 1, 2019. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Can William Barr defend presidential obstruction?

One should expect fireworks this week as Attorney General William Barr testifies before the Judiciary Committees of both the House and the Senate about the investigation and the report of special counsel Robert Mueller regarding Russian interference in the 2016 American presidential election. By now, most folks know that the interference was substantial but don't seem to care much.

May 1, 2019