So called "originalists" are anything but

The question before the Court on presidential immunity can be answered quickly and clearly.  No. The President does not have immunity for criminal acts.  Period.  The Magna Carta proclaimed in 2015 that even the King is not above the law.  The Supreme Court justices should not have even heard this case.  A first year law student knows that.

Fifteen leading historians submitted an amicus brief showing that the Founding Fathers were well aware of the need to control the President.  The silliness about private vs. “official “ acts that some members of the Court brought up is nowhere to be found in the Constitution, in Madison’s notes, in the Federalist Papers, or in previous cases.  

James Iredell, an early justice on the Supreme Court, told the North Carolina ratification convention that if the President commits a crime, “he is punishable by the laws of his country and in capital cases may be deprived of his life.”

Now there is a Supreme Court Justice.  Let’s go back to the original.

I learned about the Iredell quotation and the 15 historians in Jamelle Bouie, “This Whole King Trump Thing Is Getting Awfully Literal,” New York Times, (28 Apr. 2024), p. SR3.