Judge Andrew P. Napolitano: COVID's lasting lesson – we can never take liberty for granted

As America returns to pre-pandemic normalcy, we should think about the dangers of taking liberty for granted.

The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution presume that our liberties are natural and cannot be suppressed or taken away by the government absent due process.  How, in a land made prosperous by rugged individualism and personal sacrifice, not by government, did the people become sheep when their governors signed orders that purported to deny the right to worship, work, travel, assemble peaceably and use private property as one sees fit? Due process requires a notice of charges, a fair hearing with all constitutional protections at which the government must prove fault, and the right to appeal. The Constitution doesn’t grant liberty; it restrains the government from infringing upon it.