Martial Law and Lockdowns: An Online Seminar with Judge Andrew P. Napolitano

Just as America begins to reopen from the Coronavirus lockdowns, protests break out across the country over the killing of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis. Governors deploy riot police into the streets to deal with looting, Trump threatens to invoke the Insurrection Act of 1807, and millions of Americans wonder if they still have a job. Racial tensions grow, while groups like Antifa violently agitate for the abolition of property and capitalism. With curfews and business closures in effect, what does the rule of law even mean? How does government at any level maintain legitimacy when it cannot provide basic order?

Judge Andrew P. Napolitano, the Senior Legal Analyst for Fox News and a board member of the Mises Institute, joins Jeff Deist for an in-depth look at the legal crisis facing America in the wake of COVID-19 and ongoing civil unrest. Among the topics:

• What powers do Trump and governors have to quell protests or prevent the spread of disease? Are orders not authorized by legislatures flatly illegal? Do they carry the force of law?
• Can Trump call out National Guard or federal military forces without congressional approval or consent of governors?
• What does due process mean during a crisis? Do constitutional protections disappear when public health is at stake or mass protests overtake the streets?
• What level of constitutional scrutiny should apply to measures taken by governors and mayors—quarantines, business closures, curfews, police mobilizations?
• Are qualified immunity protections keeping dangerous cops and politicians from accountability? Will business owners be able to sue state or local governments for violating their rights?
• Is “property vs. lives” a false choice from a legal perspective? Do police have any affirmative duty to safeguard either?
• What roles do the Ninth and Tenth Amendments play—or should they play—in how various states deal with these crises? Is federalism poised for a resurgence?

This online seminar is a hard-hitting and uncompromising discussion of government malfeasance and lawlessness.