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credit 🐦 Jed Shugerman a professor and historian of law
a highly relevant speech from the Ratification debates (1788): Against Presidential Immunity & Unitary Executive theory (interpreting the Opinions Clause).Future SCOTUS Justice Iredell, NC Convention, 7/28/1788:
“If the President does a single act by which the people are prejudiced, he is punishable himself…
If he commits any crime, he is punishable by the laws of his country, and in capital cases may be deprived of his life.”
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@Kinnison Alito et al like to cite medieval law for their draconian rulings with facts & inconvenient Founding Father originalist writings be damned…so we’ll see.
🐦 Jed Shugerman
But wait there is more...
This passage shows the opposite of the Unitary Executive theory. Iredell reflects an obvious, common sense understanding of the Opinions Clause:
*The principal officers of the Departments are independent of presidential control.*
Iredell, p. 108
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