Constitutional Chaos: What Happens When the Government Breaks Its Own Laws

by Andrew P. Napolitano

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In this incisive and insightful book, Judge Andrew P. Napolitano peels back the legal veneer and shows how politicians, judges, prosecutors, and bureaucrats are trampling the U.S. Constitution in the name of law and order and fighting terrorism. Napolitano reveals how they:

silence the First Amendment
shoot holes in the Second
break some laws to enforce others
entrap citizens
steal private property
seize evidence without warrant
imprison without charge
kill without cause

Pundits on the right, left, and center have praised Constitutional Chaos for its penetrating examination of our rights and liberties in the post-9/11 world.

"Has the war on terrorism taken away some of your rights? In a non-ideological way, Judge Andrew P. Napolitano answers that crucial question. This book will open your eyes."-Bill O'Reilly

"This book is a wake-up call for all who value personal freedom and limited government."-Rush Limbaugh

"In all of the American media, Judge Napolitano is the most persistent, uncompromising guardian of both the letter and the spirit of the Constitution. . ."-Nat Hentoff

Judge Andrew P. Napolitano is Fox News Channel's senior judicial analyst, seen by millions on The Big Story with John Gibson, The O'Reilly Factor, Fox and Friends, and other shows. His articles and commentaries have been published in the Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Newark Star Ledger, and other national publications.

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All Customer Reviews
Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

5 out of 5 stars

What we've lost in the Clinton~Bush years, 2008-10-05

CONSTITUTIONAL CHAOS (2004)
by Judge Andrew Napolitano

Andrew Napolitano wasn't always an advocate of limited government. As a young man, he supported Nixon-style "law and order" government in order to reduce crime and take the bad guys off the street. He became a judge in the state of New Jersey and saw case after case of people who had been arrested with minimal evidence, but he still gave law enforcement the benefit of the doubt. What led to his rethinking of the way the law should work was when a personal friend of his - a police officer - lied under oath in his court room. He saw that some policemen weren't above planting evidence in a suspect's car. This isn't the case with all cops of course, and truth be told the ones who lie make it harder for the good cops. For these reasons, Andrew Napolitano became an outspoken proponent of the true rule of law... for citizens as well as the government.

It bothers me when a book will bash Bush's tyrannical actions and then make excuses for the Clinton administration (and vice versa). This book isn't like that. Napolitano blasts the Justice Departments of both Janet Reno and John Ashcroft. The way things are going, we are likely to lose more and more rights with each successive administration unless we educate one another on how the law is supposed to work. Napolitano explains several dangerous precedents in this book, notably:

-eminent domain abuse and the legal twisting of the "takings clause".

-the incredible story of how the FBI let crazy liar Emad Salem swindle them.

-journalists who have been punished for publishing information relevant to court cases.

-Reno's greatest hits: the Waco siege & the Elian Gonzalez kidnapping.

-Brandon Mayfield, a lawyer whose legal defense of the "Portland Six" led to his becoming a terrorist suspect by the FBI.

-closed hearings in immigration trials and the disappearance of individuals in "special interest cases" (!)

-Yasir Hamdi and Jose Padilla and the creation of the term "enemy combatant" and the weakening of habeas corpus.

This book is awesome. Napolitano offers a perspective from somebody who has had to make legal decisions and he doesn't pull punches. This is the closest thing you are going to get to a crash course in what we've lost in the past 15 years or so. I would recommend this book to anybody who values their rights as a citizen of the United States!

"Unless you work for it, sell to it,
or receive financial assistance from it,
the government is not your friend".
~pg. 129

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

5 out of 5 stars

Awesome!, 2008-09-18
I loved this book. It is a wake up call to all who love freedom!

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

5 out of 5 stars

Constitutional Chaos: Good book and entertaining read., 2008-08-30
Good book and worth a read. It's pretty obvious that the Judge has some Libertarian in him.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5 out of 5 stars

A Conservative ex-Judge Assesses Unconstitutional Abuses., 2008-08-02
Judge Andrew Napolitano has written an excellent book about governmental abuses of constitutional rights.

The Judge defines in laymen's terms the fundamental differences between the theories of natural law and positivism. The author subscribes to the natural law theory.

He shares some of his personal experiences from the bench.

The bulk of the book is a commentary from a conservative point of view on the abuses of rights by the government in areas such as Eminent Domain.
He tracks how Eminent Domain has devolved from uses for "public use" to "public benefit" to ulimately for "private use". Something that was strictly for public use is now abused for private gain.

He details some of the shocking, unconstitutional abuses by Janet Reno when she was a State Attornney in Dade County, Florida and later as U.S. Attorney General. Particularly her use of the "Miami Method" of prosecution and the coercion and outright abuse of a suspect's wife. She serves as an example of how the justice system sometimes circumvents individual's rights and breaks the law.

The author assesses the right to possess arms as a fundamental human right, guaranteed by the Second Amendment. This right has little to do with hunting, it's basically about self-defense. He cites some examples from history of human rights abuses after citizens were disarmed.

Judge Napolitano provides a scathing critique of the PATRIOT ACT and the Bush administrations misuse of the term "enemy combatant" in light of the Constitution and the rights therein.

On secret legal proceedings the author has this opinion. "When the federal government decrees a 'special interest' case and then escorts the public out of the courtroom, it smacks of Stalinism."

He also examines how John Ashcroft usurped the Constitution's Sixth Amendment guarantee of client-attorney priviledge.

"Constitutional Chaos-What Happens When the Government Breaks It's Own Laws" is highly recommended reading for anyone that cares about freedom, individual rights,and the Constitution.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5 out of 5 stars

Required Reading!, 2008-07-01
This book should be required reading for every citizen and particularly every lawyer and judge.

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