Any adult who is a high school school graduate knows the basics of the Magna Carta (field of Runnymede, King John, rights of those under the king, etc). If they paid attention, they recall that the 63 original principles were the forerunner of English common law, which is the basis for the U.S. Constitution and especially the Bill of Rights. The essence of the Magna Carta was that the king was not above the law and the law was a power in itself.

Recently, the U.S. Supreme Court has granted “limited” immunity to a sitting president, placing him above the law. It was argued in that court a president who is also commander-in-chief of the most powerful military in the world can order the imprisonment or assassination of a political rival and not be criminally tried for it.

This has the chilling effect of squashing more than 800 years of historical views of the legal system we have always treasured. This political season we have a presidential candidate who has already threatened to go after political rivals and who said at one point he wanted to be dictator “for a day.” Beware of people who say such things when the highest court in the land has turned our legal system upside down.

JIM KIRSCH

Naselle