7 Most Hardcore Judge Napolitano Quotes

Judge Andrew Napolitano has been a voice for freedom over many decades. His titanic career has given birth to many great quotes from speeches he has given in defense of liberty. These are the 10 best from his writings and talks. 

1. “Whenever we are attacked, people are willing to give up someone else's liberties for their own security.”

The Judge here is criticizing democracy's downsides, where voters who value safety over freedom will gladly vote to turn in their rights to the government, and the rights of others, for a false sense of security.

2. “If exercising the right to vote were truly effective, the government would not be so eager to promote it.”

Napolitano continues his broadsides against our electoral system, which gives the average voter a false sense of power. True power resides in an individual who does more than just show up to vote once every four years. Protecting liberty is done with constant vigilance. 

3. “Thanks to Progressives such as Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson, we are now living under a system where the president is forced to step in to stop a regulatory agency from promulgating regulations that Congress refused to enact.”

Judge Nap is laying the blame for the Deep State at the feet of the progressives. With the excesses of statism leading us to a system whereby unelected bureaucrats have nearly as much or more power than officials who actually sought and received a mandate from the people they represent. 

4. “To test a nation’s belief in freedom, challenge the people with the emotions of fear and vengeance that often accompany war.”

The Judge here is turning a phrase based on a popular quote that said “Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.” In this we can assume that the Judge points the finger at the average citizen's fearful response to danger in sacrificing their liberty. 

5. “The theory of Woodrow Wilson’s era was that the Thirteenth Amendment did not apply to the government and that, when in war, the government could force individuals into the military or into a specific labor market.”

Napolitano is here making the case that conscription is slavery, and therefore a violation of the Civil War era amendment that ended the heinous practice in the United States. 

6. “One of the reasons why people come to America is that there are fewer speed bumps to the top of the ladder in comparison with other countries.”

Despite the Judge's gripes about the government of the United States, he has always been a steadfast defender of the nation as a whole. People like his ancestors came to America in search of a better life... and found it!

7. “We must recognize that we do not have a two-party system in this country; we have one party, the big government party. There is a republican version that assaults our civil liberties and loves deficits and war, and a democratic version that assaults our commercial liberty and loves wealth transfers and taxes.”

Andrew Napolitano  believes that the two parties are very much the same, and it's hard to disagree in some ways. What do you think?