Andrew Napolitano

Andrew Napolitano
Napolitano in 2015
Judge of theNew Jersey Superior Court
In office 1987–1995
Appointed by	Thomas Kean
Personal details
Born	Andrew Peter Napolitano (1950-06-06)June 6, 1950 Newark, New Jersey,U.S.
Political party	Libertarian
Education	Princeton University(BA) University of Notre Dame(JD)
Signature
Website	Official website

Andrew Peter Napolitano(born June 6, 1950) is an American former jurist and syndicated columnist whose work appears in numerous publications, includingThe Washington TimesandReason.Napolitano served as aNew Jersey Superior Courtjudgefrom 1987 to 1995. He also served as a visiting professor atWidener University Delaware Law School,Seton Hall University School of Law,andBrooklyn Law School.He is alibertarianand has gained prominence in part due to his criticism of the administrations ofGeorge W. Bush,Barack Obama,andDonald Trump.Beginning in 1997, he became an analyst forFox News,commenting on legal news and trials. He has written nine books on legal and political subjects.

Early life and judicial and academic career

Napolitano was born inNewark, New Jersey.He graduated with an A.B. in history fromPrinceton Universityin 1972 after completing a senior thesis titled "An Essay on the Origin and Evolution of Representative Government in the Colony of theMassachusetts Bay,1630-1644. "He received hisJ.D.fromNotre Dame Law Schooland was admitted to the New Jersey bar in 1975.After law school, he entered private practice as a litigator. He first taught law for a brief period in 1980–1981 atDelaware Law School(nowWidener). He sat on theNew Jerseybench from 1987 to 1995, becoming the state's youngest then-sitting Superior Court judge.

Napolitano resigned his judgeship in 1995 to return to private practice. He served as an adjunct professor atSeton Hall University School of Lawfor 11 years, from 1989 to 2000. He served as a visiting professor atBrooklyn Law Schoolfrom 2013 to 2017.

Napolitano told friends in 2017 that PresidentDonald Trumptold him he was considering him for aUnited States Supreme Courtappointment should there be a second vacancy.Ultimately, JudgeBrett Kavanaughwas chosen instead.

Media career

Napolitano in 2010

Before joining Fox as a news analyst, Napolitano was the presiding judge for the first season ofTwentieth Television's syndicated court showPower of Attorney(2000–02), in which people brought small-claims disputes to a televised courtroom. Differing from similar formats, theplaintiffsanddefendantswere representedpro bonoby famous attorneys. He departed the series after its first season.

From 2006 to 2010, Napolitano co-hosted atalk radioshow onFox News RadiowithBrian KilmeadetitledBrian and the Judge.He hosted a dailylibertariantalk show calledFreedom Watchthat aired onFox Business Channel.Frequent guests onFreedom Watchwere CongressmanRon Paul,Lew RockwellandPeter Schiff.He promoted the works ofFriedrich HayekandLudwig von Misesin his program. The show originally aired every Wednesday at 2:00 p.m. on Fox News'Strategy Roomand from September 14, 2009, aired three to four times a week. On June 12, 2010, it debuted as a weekly show onFox Business.It was one of several programs dropped in February 2012 when FBN revamped its primetime lineup.

Napolitano regularly substituted for television hostGlenn Beckwhen Beck was absent from his program. After Beck announced that he would be leavingFox News,he asked Napolitano to replace him.He regularly provided legal analysis on top rated shows on bothFox News ChannelandFox Business Network,such asThe Kelly File,The O'Reilly Factor,Varney & Co.,The Fox ReportwithShepard Smith,Fox & FriendsandSpecial Report with Bret Baieruntil an appearance on March 16, 2017, related to a then-postulated conspiracy theory involving President Trump's accusation that former PresidentBarack Obamahad wiretapped him. On March 20, 2017, theLos Angeles Timesreported that Napolitano was pulled off the air indefinitely because of the wiretapping claims;however, it was unclear whether Napolitano would return to the air or whether it was just a temporary move to remove him from the news cycle.He returned to the air on March 29 and stood by his claims concerning British intelligence.A new book byCNNreporterBrian Stelterasserts thatAttorney GeneralWilliam Barrmet withFox NewsbossRupert Murdochin October 2019 to request that Murdoch "muzzle" Napolitano and that Napolitano's Fox appearances have been limited since that meeting.

Napolitano was let go from his position as a contributor to Fox News in August 2021 after allegations of sexual harassment filed by a Fox Business production assistant.During his 24-year tenure as Fox News' Senior Judicial Analyst, Napolitano appeared on air more than 14,500 times,a record for any on-air personality at the network.

Politics

Specific positions

Napolitano isanti-abortionand holds thatabortion"should be prohibited."He reasons that while a woman has a natural and undeniable right to privacy in her personal choices, the rule of necessity causes the right to life of the fetus, which he believes to begin at conception, to take priority for the duration of gestation. He believes the Supreme Court's ruling oninterracial marriageinLoving v. Virginia(1967) set aprecedentthat would also requirestate recognitionofsame-sex marriage.He opposescapital punishment,saying, "I don't believe that the state has the moral authority to execute."He is a believer in theseparation of Church and State.

With respect to both presidentsBushandObamaand their handling of civil liberties in theWar on Terror,Napolitano is a strong critic. In both his scholarly work, appearing in theNew York University School of LawJournal of Law and Liberty,and in his bookSuicide Pact,he criticized the actions of both presidents and their parties concerning torture, domestic spying, unilateral executive action and encroachments on political power.

In February 2014, Napolitano expressed disdain forAbraham Lincolnon Fox News, saying, "I am a contrarian on Abraham Lincoln." Slavery in the U.S., according to Napolitano, while one of the most deplorable institutions in human history, could have been done away with peacefully, sparing the bloodiest conflict in American history. At the same time, he also argued that states, where slavery was legal, did not secede out of fear of abolitionism, asserting that "largely the impetus for secession was tariffs," which most Civil War historians dispute.In his bookSuicide Pact,he focused his criticism of Lincoln on theprecedentset by his specific constitutional violations, such as his unilateral suspension of the right tohabeas corpusand hisinstitutionalizationof military commission systems for civilian crimes.

After the release of theMueller reportonRussian interference in the 2016 election,Napolitano said the report showed that Trump engaged in numerous instances ofobstruction of justice.However, the report deliberately refused to make a firm conclusion about obstruction of justice accusations.

According toThe New York Times,Napolitano "has a taste for conspiracy theories".The Washington Posthas described him as a "purveyor of conspiracy theories."

In 2010, Napolitano said, "It's hard for me to believe that it (7 World Trade Center) came down by itself... I am gratified to see that people across the board are interested. I think twenty years from now, people will look at 9/11 the way we look at the assassination of JFK today. It couldn't possibly have been done the way the government told us. "

Judicial philosophy

Napolitano subscribes to anatural lawjurisprudencethat is influenced by a respect for originalist ideas and methods. He has expressed strong sympathies with theRandy Barnettnew originalist vein oforiginalism,as it incorporates the natural law through an original understanding of theNinth Amendment.He has published a favorable column on Barnett's idea of a constitutional presumption of liberty.

Napolitano's philosophy generally leans towards strong originalism while not accepting the limitations of the older types oforiginalismespoused byRobert Borkand JusticeAntonin Scaliaconcerning the Constitution's open-ended provisions like the Ninth Amendment. He finds such limitations too restrictive on a judge's ability to apply the natural law to decide cases where the individual's liberty is at stake. He is a strong believer in economic liberties. He argues thatLochner v. New Yorkwas overruled in error in theWest Coast Hotelcase, as the Contracts Clause and theFifthandFourteenth Amendmentdue process clauses protect a sphere of personal economic liberty.

In September 2015, Napolitano was the featured speaker at a conference held by the Republican government watchdog groupJudicial Watch.

Allegations that British intelligence wiretapped Trump Tower

Further information:Trump Tower wiretapping allegations

On March 16, 2017, citing three unnamed intelligence sources, Napolitano said on the programFox & Friendsthat Britain's top intelligence agency,Government Communications Headquarters(GCHQ), had engaged in covert electronic surveillance of then-candidate Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign on orders from President Obama.He said that by using the British intelligence apparatus, Obama would avoid leaving "fingerprints" that could identify the origin of this surveillance action. In response to “Fox & Friends” host Brian Kilmead stating that Napolitano was claiming Trump's phone was “wiretapped”, Napolitano denied actual physical tampering, instead citing the agency has digital access to digital information.

In a column on the Fox website, he wrote that GCHQ "most likely provided Obama with transcripts of Trump's calls. The NSA has given GCHQ full 24/7 access to its computers, so GCHQ — a foreign intelligence agency that, like the NSA, operates outside our constitutional norms — has the digital versions of all electronic communications made in America in 2016, including Trump's."One of his sources was formerCentral Intelligence Agency(CIA) officerLarry C. Johnson,who later toldCNNthat Napolitano had misrepresented the statements he made on an online discussion board. Johnson, citing two anonymous sources, claimed that the GCHQ was passing information on the Trump campaign to U.S. intelligence through a "back-channel", but stressed that the GCHQ did not "wiretap" Trump or his associates and that alleged information sharing by the GCHQ was not done at the direction of the Obama administration.

On March 16,White House Press SecretarySean Spicerrepeated Napolitano's claim at a White House press briefing. The following day, GCHQ responded with a rare public statement: "Recent allegations made by media commentator Judge Andrew Napolitano about GCHQ being asked to conduct 'wiretapping' against the then president-elect are nonsense. They are utterly ridiculous and should be ignored."A British government source said the allegation was "totally untrue and quite frankly absurd".AdmiralMichael S. Rogers,director of theNational Security Agency,said he has seen nothing to suggest that there was "any such activity," nor any request to do so.Former GCHQ directorDavid Omandtold theFinancial Timesthat "The suggestion that [Barack Obama] asked GCHQ to spy on Trump is just completely barking—that would be evident to anyone who knew the system."

The claim started a diplomatic dispute with Britain.Tim Farron,theLiberal Democratleader in Britain, said, "Trump is compromising the vital UK–US security relationship to try to cover his own embarrassment. This harms our and US security."The Telegraphsaid that two U.S. officials had personally apologized for the allegation.The British government also said that the U.S. government promised not to repeat these claims.TheWhite Housedenied reports that it had apologized to the British government, saying Spicer was merely "pointing to public reports" without endorsing them.

On April 12, 2017,The Guardianreported that GCHQ and other European intelligence agencies had intercepted communications between members of the Trump campaign team and Russian officials and shared the intelligence with their U.S. counterparts. The communications were obtained through "incidental collection" as part of routine surveillance of Russian intelligence assets, not from a targeted operation against Trump or his campaign.

Fox News distanced itself from Napolitano's claims and suspended him from contributing to the network's output, according to theLos Angeles Timesand theAssociated Press.He returned on March 29 after a nearly two-week absence, but continued to support his earlier claims.

Civil War views

Napolitano has made numerous claims about theCivil Warwhich are rejected by historians. These claims include that the Civil War wasAbraham Lincoln's war by choice, that slavery was dying anyway, that Lincoln could have freed the slaves by paying the slaveholders, and that Lincoln armed the slaves.More specifically, in aDaily Showsegment, he said that Lincoln started the war "because he wanted to preserve the union, because he needed the tariffs from the southern states," a claim rejected by a panel of three distinguished historians of the Civil War:James Oakes,Eric FonerandManisha Sinha.Napolitano argued that Lincoln could have solved the slavery question by paying slaveholders to release their slaves, a method known ascompensated emancipation,thereby avoiding war.Lincoln did offer to pay to free the slaves inDelaware,but the Delaware legislature rejected him.He also asserted that Lincoln attempted to arm slaves, but two prominent historians of the Civil War said they had never heard of such an effort andPolitiFactrated the claim "pants-on-fire".He has asserted that slavery was dying a natural death at the time of the Civil War, a claim that Eric Foner on theDaily Showpanel rejected. Foner said, "Slavery was not only viable, it was growing... This idea that it was dying out or was going to die out is ridiculous."

Napolitano has also said that Lincoln enforced theFugitive Slave Act"until the Civil War was over" by sending escaped slaves back to their owners. PolitiFact notes that "while there were cases when Lincoln enforced the law during the Civil War, he did so selectively when he thought it would help keep border states in the Union fold. When it came to slaves from Confederate states, the weight of the government actions fell heavily on the side of refusing to return escaped slaves." Furthermore, his claim that Lincoln enforced the act "until the Civil War was over" was indisputably false, as the Fugitive Slave Act was repealed in June 1864, more than ten months before the end of the war.

Personal life

Napolitano splits his time living inManhattanandNewton, New Jersey,where he owns a farm that producesmaple syrup.

Napolitano has stated that he is not related to formerSecretary of Homeland SecurityJanet Napolitano,whom he sometimes jokingly calls "Evil Cousin Janet".

Napolitano is avegetarian.

Napolitano identifies as aTraditionalist Catholicwho is opposed to the reforms ofVatican IIand is critical ofPope Francis.

Napolitano was sued by two New Jersey men alleging sexual assault, in one case arising during his time on the bench.Napolitano countersued in one case bringing a libel case. All three suits were later withdrawn and it is reportedly unclear whether any financial settlement occurred.

Bibliography

Books

• Constitutional Chaos: What Happens When the Government Breaks its Own Laws(2004)ISBN978-0785260837.
• The Constitution in Exile: How the Federal Government Has Seized Power by Rewriting the Supreme Law of the Land(2006)ISBN978-1595550705
• A Nation of Sheep(2007)ISBN978-1595551924.
• Dred Scott's Revenge: A Legal History of Race and Freedom in America(2009)ISBN978-1418575571.
• Lies the Government Told You: Myth, Power, and Deception in American History(2010)ISBN978-1418584245.
• It is Dangerous to be Right When the Government is Wrong: The Case for Personal Freedom(2011)ISBN978-1595554130.
• Theodore and Woodrow: How Two American Presidents Destroyed Constitutional Freedom(2012)ISBN978-1595554215.
• The Freedom Answer Book: How the Government Is Taking Away Your Constitutional Freedoms(2013)ISBN978-1400320295.
• Suicide Pact: The Radical Expansion of Presidential Powers and the Lethal Threat to American Liberty(2014)ISBN978-0718021931.

Book contributions

• "Introduction."In:Shattered Dreams: 100 Stories of Government Abuse.Foreword byTed Nugent.Washington:National Center for Public Policy Research(2007),p. 7.ISBN978-0966596137.
• "A Judicial Odyssey Toward Freedom."In:I Chose Liberty: Autobiographies of Contemporary Libertarians,compiled byWalter Block.Auburn, Alabama:Ludwig von Mises Institute(2010), pp. 231–235.ISBN978-1610160025.
• "Foreword."In:Robert Higgs,Taking a Stand: Reflections on Life, Liberty, and the Economy.Independent Institute(2015), pp. xv–xvii.ISBN978-1598132045.
• "Foreword."In:Murray N. Rothbard,The Progressive Era,edited byPatrick Newman.Auburn, Alabama:Ludwig von Mises Institute(2017), pp. 9–13.ISBN978-1610166775.Audiobook available.

Book reviews

• "Judge Napolitano Gives Verdict on Robert Higgs Books."Review ofTaking a Stand: Reflections on Life, Liberty, and the EconomybyRobert Higgs.The Independent(Quarterly Newsletter),Vol. 25, No. 4, p. 1 (Winter 2016).Full issue available.
• "The Camp of the Saints."Review ofThe Camp of the SaintsbyJean Raspail.Creators(October 25, 2018).

Academic works

• "The News Person's Shield Law: A Welcome Acceptance by the Federal Courts of an Important State Privilege."New Jersey Lawyer Magazine,Vol. 113, pp. 13–17 (November 1985).
• "Whatever Happened to Freedom of Speech? A Defense of 'State Interest of the Highest Order' as a Unifying Standard for Erratic First Amendment Jurisprudence."Seton Hall Law Review,Vol. 29, pp. 1197–1276 (1999).
• "Liberty v. Tyranny: A Constant Struggle."Regent University Law Review,Vol. 22, No. 2, pp. 291–299 (2010).Full issue available.

This speech was originally presented as the keynote address to the Regent University Law Review and The Federalist Society for Law & Public Policy Studies Media and the Law Symposium at Regent University School of Law, October 9–10, 2009, under the title "When Does Regulation Go Too Far?"

• "A Legal History of National Security Law and Individual Rights in the United States."New York University Law School Journal of Law & Liberty,Vol. 8, pp. 396–555 (2014).Full issue available.
• "Protecting Hatred Preserves Freedom: Why Offensive Expressions Command Constitutional Protection."Journal of Law and Policy,Vol. 25, No. 1, pp. 161–184 (2016).Full issue available.
• Freedom’s Anchor: An Introduction to Natural Law Jurisprudence in American Constitutional History(2023)ISBN978-1680537079.

External links

• Official website
• AppearancesonC-SPAN
• Andrew NapolitanoatIMDb
• Biographical profileatfoxnews.com
• Biographical profileatIndependent Institute
• Articles by Napolitanoat Creator.com
• Articles by NapolitanoatReason
• Freedom Watch with The Judge
• Brian and The Judge
• The Judge's Farm at Vine Hill