The Magna Carta's 800th Birthday...June 15, 2015

Common Sense Commentary: The Magna Carta was the earliest and maybe the greatest of the historically great documents devised by men. Second only to the Bible as the foundational instruments  upon which our U.S. Constitution was founded. And yet weak minded and black hearted men cannot cease to attack, demean, and violate our Constitutional rights, and seek to destroy it.

800 Years Ago, On June 15, 1215, The Magna Carta was forced upon the King of England by a united band of rebel barons who had had enough of their government's and the King's tyranny against themselves, the English people and Christian Church rights. This document guaranteed protection from illegal imprisonment, access to swift justice and limitations of feudal payments to the King. Magna Carta is Latin for "The Great Charter". It is also called Magna Carta Libertatum, Latin for "The Great Charter Of The Liberties". It was upon The Magna Carta that English and American freedoms were established. A key principle of these freedoms was that Everyone, including the King, was under the law of the land. Let us not forget nor allow our Congressmen and Presidents to forget their responsibility to us and their answerability to the law of the land ... our U.S. Constitution. RB

Magna Carta

“To all free men of our kingdom, we have also granted, for us and our heirs for ever, all the liberties written out below, to have and to keep for them and their heirs, of us and our heirs.”

The Magna Carta also established the right of free men to justice and a fair trial. “No free man shall be seized or imprisoned, or stripped of his rights or possessions, or outlawed or exiled, or deprived of his standing in any way, nor will we proceed with force against him, or send others to do so, except by the lawful judgment of his equals or by the law of the land.”

Many of the principles of the Magna Carta can be found in the Bill of Rights of our Constitution. We can see that in the quote I just provided from the Magna Carta. Those rights are enumerated in the Sixth Amendment and the Eighth Amendment. The Magna Carta says that “no official shall place a man on trial . . . without producing credible witnesses.” This guarantee is found in our Fifth Amendment.

The Magna Carta protected free man from being deprived “of lands, castles, liberties or rights without the lawful judgments of his equals.” The Sixth Amendment guarantees us the right to a trial by an impartial jury. The Magna Carta says that “For a trivial offense, a free man shall be fined only in proportion to the degree of his offense.” The Eighth Amendment protects the accused from being fined an excessive amount for bail. (From Kerby Anderson's Viewpoints)