When a vacancy opens up on the Supreme Court, the media will focus on the Roe v. Wade precedent, but Judge Napolitano recognizes that a broader perspective is necessary to understand what is really at stake. If judges fail in their duty to defend the Bill of Rights, government officials will run amok, constitutional corruption will flourish, and the land of the free will slide into chaos. Thus, what we really need is a clear-eyed defender of the Constitution, someone who is willing to defend a constitutional principle even when it is unpopular to do so.

The positions of Libertarians and liberal criminal defense attorneys often merge on issues such as forfeiture abuse, the drug war, search and seizure (particularly when exceptions are made for warrrantless police searches in the name of "good faith".)

It's why many times we link to Nat Hentoff's Village Voice columns--like when he's bashing Ashcroft or torture --but other times, when he is defending judges we find indefensible, we don't. I think Judge Napolitano's book will be a good read, and Mr. Lynch has convinced me to get a copy.