Is Judge Napolitano a Hater?

Earlier this month, the empirically challenged "hate"-fighters over at the Southern Poverty Law Center put out a hit list of dangerous "patriots," defined as

people who generally believe that the federal government is an evil entity that is engaged in a secret conspiracy to impose martial law, herd those who resist into concentration camps, and force the United States into a socialistic "New World Order"

Included on that list were "The Enablers," of which one was Fox News commentator and author Judge Andrew Napolitano. From the SPLC entry:

[Napolitano] was scheduled to be the keynote speaker this past February at the first annual Tenth Amendment Summit in Atlanta, but was snowed in and never made it. He missed out on rubbing elbows with neo-Confederates, conspiracy theorists and antigovernment Patriot activists.

It seems the TV judge is vying to become a fixture on the far-right lecture circuit. He was also scheduled to address the 2010 New Hampshire Liberty Forum, a gathering of self-described "pro-liberty activists" who are striving to "cut the size and scope of government by about two-thirds or more."

Napolitano has joined other conspiracy theorists in falsely claiming that efforts to expand affordable housing through the Community Reinvestment Act were responsible for the crash of the economy in 2008. He called Sarah Palin's baseless accusation that Obama was trying to set up "death panels" a "legitimate concern." He falsely suggested that Obama bribed a congressman to change his vote on health care by appointing his brother to an appeals court.

Wait, he almost went to a conference about the Bill of Rights? Burn him!!

Anyway, if Napolitano is a big fat hater he should be dancing like Peggy Lee at a cactus farm over the new Mexican-prevention law in Arizona. Um, not quite:

Past Reason interviews with the Judge: Damon Root earlier this month, Brian Doherty in November 2007, Nick Gillespie in March 2005. Read Napolitano's Reason archives here, and watch below as he delivers speech about civil liberties in war time at an October 2007 Reason conference: