Judge Andrew Napolitano, speaking with Shepard Smith on Fox News, denounces President Barack Obama’s ongoing delay in providing the legal arguments used to justify the executive branch’s “targeted killings” program. In particular, Napolitano criticizes Obama’s refusal to provide the memorandum describing the legal argument for the US government using a drone to kill US citizen Anwar al-Awlaki in Yemen. Obama’s delay, Napolitano says, will mean that the United States Senate will have approved the lifetime appointment of David Barron, the memo’s author, to a US federal court before the memorandum is made public.
Napolitano, an RPI Advisory Board member, explains that the government is not “entitled to a secret law.” He continues:
The laws are public. The opinions of the court interpreting the laws are public. The government’s rationale should be made public as well.
Napolitano proceeds to discusses with Smith the dangers of Star Chamber “justice,” describing some of the details of the “targeted killing” of al-Awlaki:
Napolitano: This human being, who’s picture we were just showing on the screen—Anwar al-Awlaki, born in New Mexico—was never even indicted or formally charged with a crime.
Smith: Nothing.
Napolitano: Nothing. Second, he was followed for the last 48 hours of his life by 16 intelligence agents—American and Yemen intelligence agents—who never lost sight of him. They could have arrested him, brought him back to the United States; a-ha, but they’d need a charge to arrest him.
Smith: But they didn’t have one.
Napolitano: Correct. So, how dangerous could he have been if the government never charged him with a crime, never indicted him with a crime, never asked him to come in, and never attempted to arrest him?
Watch the complete interview here:
