Napolitano on the Patriot Act
The following is an excerpt from an interview of Judge Andrew Napolitano by Reason’s Brian Doherty. While discussing his new book, A Nation of Sheep, the Patriot Act was brought up. Napolitano reminds us that the tipping point for many American colonists was an action taken by the British government then, that is currently being taken by our government now:
“The Patriot Act’s two most principle constitutional errors are an assault on the Fourth Amendment, and on the First. It permits federal agents to write their own search warrants [under the name “national security letters”] with no judge having examined evidence and agreed that it’s likely that the person or thing the government wants to search will reveal evidence of a crime.
“Remember that the British government permitted its soldiers to execute self-written search warrants. They called them “writs of assistance,” and they were one of the last straws that caused American colonist to rebel. It’s bitterly ironic that 230 years later a popularly elected government would authorize its own agents to do the same thing that when a monarchy did it, we fought a war of rebellion in reaction—which we won!”
The full interview is here. I highly recommend it. Judge Napolitano is full of interesting facts.