July 1st 2024 - the Day of Immunity - this is going to be an historical day. We used to think immunity had to do with health:
Innate immunity: Everyone is born with innate (or natural) immunity, a type of general protection. For example, the skin acts as a barrier to block germs from entering the body.
Adaptive immunity: Adaptive (or active) immunity develops throughout our lives. We develop adaptive immunity when we're exposed to diseases or when we're immunized against them with vaccines.
Passive immunity: Passive immunity is "borrowed" from another source and it lasts for a short time. For example, antibodies in a mother's breast milk give a baby temporary immunity to diseases the mother has been exposed to.
My generation thought that vaccines were the great gift. We experienced measles and polio epidemics in our childhood and got 'saved' by vaccines. When COVID came, my generation found out we might not be saved, even getting our vaccines, given how many people were not getting vaccines.
So here we are with the next chapter in immunity. Parliamentary or legislative immunity. That is where political leadership position holders - president, vice president, minister, and so on are granted immunity from legal prosecution - civil and criminal - in the course of the execution of their official duties. How many legislative immunity systems are there? Lots - Wikipedia explains the major country variations. Now we get to learn the details of government many years after high school.
The U.S. ruling makes me wander to the topic of Kings and Popes. The Vatican enjoys sovereign immunity. And kings? King Charles is exempt from criminal and civil proceedings as the head of state. The British system has the political power in the House of Commons who can create a special court with the power to try him. How different the U.S. is from this. There will be many articles on what this immunity will mean within the U.S. government structures.
This new kind of immunity is going to "plague" us.
Here's a creek I wouldn't want to fall into - a bumpy fall down the escarpment.
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