Super-smart Fox News senior judicial analyst and Big Story with John Gibson contributor Andrew P. Napolitano spoke to the Chamber of Commerce in Wheeling, West Virginia recently and, as always, was incredibly thought-provoking and candid. He shared his views on the Moussaoui trial and the Patriot Act:
Napolitano added that the government, in the Moussaoui case, “just wanted to pin the blame on someone who was a maniac and an idiot.” The FBI also contended that because Moussaoui was silent, the government wasn’t able to stop the attacks, according to Napolitano.
“An FBI agent testified that his own superiors were criminally negligent” because they wouldn’t allow him to get a search warrant to get into Moussaoui’s computer, Napolitano said. If they had, he said, there is no question they would have learned that something terrible was to happen on Sept. 11. There was ample evidence for a federal judge to issue a search warrant.”
Napolitano said that for a jury to impose the death penalty, the jurors must find that the accused directly caused the death of at least one person.
“Over $25 million was spent by the government to prosecute a crackpot, and they got the same ruling they would have if he hadn’t had a jury trial,” he added.
Napolitano said he believes in the theory of “natural law,” in which people have rights as a result of their humanity. He said the First Amendment protects citizens by prohibiting government from interfering with their rights.
The Patriot Act is in direct opposition to this belief, he said.
“No matter how evil a deed a person may be thought to have done, the government has to go through a neutral judge first to obtain a search warrant,” Napolitano said. “If the government can’t persuade the judge, there is no search warrant.”
....In the present day United States, the Patriot Act allows federal authorities to again write their write their own search warrants, Napolitano said. Those in the U.S. often “let down their guard” during wartime when it comes to ensuring their own personal liberties, he added.
