Andrew Napolitano

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Andrew Napolitano
Andrew Napolitano by Gage Skidmore 2.jpg
Judge of the
New Jersey Superior Court
In office
1987–1995
Appointed by Thomas Kean
Personal details
Born Andrew P. Napolitano
(1950-06-06) June 6, 1950 (age 63)
Newark, New Jersey
Political party Libertarian
Alma mater Princeton University
Notre Dame Law School
Occupation Judge
Attorney
Media Personality
Religion Roman Catholic
Website Biography on FoxNews.com

Andrew P. Napolitano (born June 6, 1950) is a former New Jersey Superior Court Judge. He is a political and senior judicial analyst for Fox News Channel, commenting on legal news and trials. Napolitano started on the channel in 1998.

Contents

Early life, judicial and academic career[edit]

Napolitano was born in Newark, New Jersey. He is a graduate of Princeton University (he was a founding member of the Concerned Alumni of Princeton[1]) and Notre Dame Law School. Napolitano sat on the New Jersey bench from 1987 to 1995, becoming the state's youngest then-sitting Superior Court judge. He also served as an adjunct professor at Seton Hall University School of Law for 11 years. Napolitano resigned his judgeship in 1995 to pursue his writing and television career.

Media career[edit]

Before joining Fox as a news analyst, Napolitano was the presiding judge on the television show, Power of Attorney, in which people brought small-claims disputes to a televised courtroom. Differing from similar formats, the plaintiffs and defendants were represented "pro bono" by famous attorneys. The show ran in syndication during the 2000–2001 season.

From 2006 to 2010, Napolitano co-hosted a talk radio show on Fox News Radio with Brian Kilmeade titled Brian and the Judge.

Napolitano hosted a libertarian talk show called Freedom Watch that aired daily, with new episodes on weekdays, on Fox Business Channel.[2] Frequent guests on Freedom Watch were Congressman Ron Paul, financial commentator Peter Schiff, and Lew Rockwell. Napolitano has called himself the "Ayn Rand of Fox News" and has also promoted the works of Friedrich Hayek, Milton Friedman and Ludwig von Mises on his program. The show originally aired once a week on Wednesdays at 2:00 pm on Fox News' Strategy Room. On September 14, 2009 it became a show that airs three to four times a week. On June 12, 2010 it debuted as a weekly show on Fox Business. The show was dropped along with several programs in February 2012 when FBN revamped its entire primetime lineup.[3]

Napolitano regularly substituted for television host Glenn Beck when Beck was absent from his program. After Beck announced he would be leaving Fox News, he asked Napolitano to replace him.[4]

Writing career[edit]

Napolitano has written the following books:

Date Title
2004 Constitutional Chaos: What Happens When the Government Breaks its Own Laws
2006 The Constitution in Exile: How the Federal Government Has Seized Power by Rewriting the Supreme Law of the Land
October 2007 A Nation of Sheep
April 2009 Dred Scott's Revenge: A Legal History of Race and Freedom in America
March 2010 Lies the Government Told You: Myth, Power, and Deception in American History
October 2011 It is Dangerous to be Right When the Government is Wrong: The Case for Personal Freedom
November 2012 Theodore and Woodrow: How Two American Presidents Destroyed Constitutional Freedom
January 2013 The Freedom Answer Book: How the Government Is Taking Away Your Constitutional Freedoms

Politics[edit]

Napolitano describes himself as pro-life.[5]

He is a strong advocate for an orthodox interpretation of the U.S. Constitution, viewing it as a contract that must, according to rule of law, be interpreted the way its authors intended or else be invalid. He asserts that the Federal government has a very limited set of powers, that it is exceeding, and that the Bill of Rights limits its valid actions in all circumstances.

The Constitution applies to persons, not just citizens. If you read the Constitution, its protections are not limited to Americans. And that was written intentionally, because at the time it was written, they didn't know what Native Americans would be. When the post civil war amendments were added, they didn't know how blacks would be considered, because they had a decision of the Supreme Court called Dred Scott, that said blacks are not persons. So in order to make sure the Constitution protected every human being: American, alien; citizen, non-citizen; lawful combatant, enemy combatant; innocent, guilty; those who wish us well, those who wish us ill...they use the broadest possible language, to make it clear: Wherever the government goes, the Constitution goes, and wherever the Constitution goes, the protections that it guarantees restrain the government and requires it to protect those rights.[6]

Napolitano has called consumer advocate and frequent presidential candidate Ralph Nader a hero of his.[7]

Napolitano believes that the 9/11 incidents including the subsequent collapse of the World Trade Tower buildings in New York City did not take place as the US government has publicly communicated. “It's hard for me to believe that [7 World Trade Center] came down by itself. I was gratified to see Geraldo Rivera investigating it. I'm gratified to see the people across the border interested," said Napolitano, “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."[8]

Napolitano believes the Supreme Court's ruling on inter-racial marriage in the 1967 case Loving v. Virginia set a precedent that would also require state recognition of same-sex marriage.[9]

Personal[edit]

Napolitano splits his time living in Manhattan and Newton, New Jersey where he owns a farm that produces maple syrup.[10] He is a Traditionalist Catholic.[11]

Napolitano is not related to U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, whom he sometimes jokingly calls "Cousin Janet."[12][13]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Sethi, Chanakya (November 18, 2005). "Alito '72 joined conservative alumni group". Daily Princetonian. Retrieved January 14, 2011. 
  2. ^ Stelter, Brian (June 13, 2010). "Libertarian Talk, Now on Fox Business Network". The New York Times. 
  3. ^ Fox Business Network Cancels Entire Primetime Lineup. The Huffington Post. February 10, 2012
  4. ^ Mirkinson, Jack (April 7, 2011). "Glenn Beck To Andrew Napolitano: You Should Replace Me (VIDEO)". Huffington Post. 
  5. ^ Nick Gillespie from the March 2005 issue. "The Born-Again Individualist – Reason Magazine". Reason.com. Retrieved April 6, 2011. 
  6. ^ Judge Andrew Napolitano & Alan Colmes discuss Gitmo, discussing the Supreme Court rulings on the scope of the protections in the Constitution.
  7. ^ After Words with Andrew Napolitano, C-SPAN (June 2, 2010)
  8. ^ "Fox takes heat from left and right over analysts". CNN. December 1, 2010. Retrieved December 8, 2010. 
  9. ^ "Should States Be the Ultimate Deciders of the Legality of Same-Sex Marriage?". Fox News. May 9, 2012. Retrieved August 18, 2012. 
  10. ^ "Sussex County maple syrup available". The Advertiser-News. Straus Newspapers. March 27, 2008. "“We collected 800 gallons of sap from our sugar maples and had it boiled down to 24 gallons of delicious, pure maple syrup that area residents can sample from the local shops that have agreed to carry our glass-jarred, locally made syrup,” said FoxNews commentator Judge Andrew P. Napolitano, proprietor of Vine Hill Farm." 
  11. ^ "Judge Napolitano: Why You Can Be a Libertarian … And Still Be Religious". Fox News Insider. December 13, 2012. [dead link]
  12. ^ MacIntyre, April (November 18, 2010). "Judge Andrew Napolitano's fatwa on TSA and 'cousin Janet' on FBN". Monsters and Critics. Retrieved August 9, 2012. 
  13. ^ "Glenn Beck: TSA pat downs a violation of the Fourth Amendment?". Glenn Beck Program. November 24, 2010. Retrieved August 9, 2012. 

External links[edit]

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