Last November Arizona Senator Mark Kelly and several others veterans reminded members of the military that they may not obey illegal orders. They posted a video out of concern that President Trump and his administration felt they could issue orders without regard to the rule of law.

Members of the military are expected to follow orders but there are limits to what they can be ordered to do. This is found in the Uniform Code of Military Justice. For example, nobody can be ordered to kill an enemy who is surrendering and poses no threat.

This recognition became poignant after World War II when senior members of Nazi Germany went on trial for war crimes; they attempted to avoid responsibility for their actions by claiming they were following orders. Since the trials took place in Nuremberg, Germany this became knows as the Nuremberg Defense.

This binds members of the military to not follow illegal orders but it should also bind superior officers from issuing illegal orders. Simply put, anyone who issues an illegal order must be removed and never allowed to give orders again. Unfortunately the Trump administration believes they can order anything they want without regard to the law.

They showed this in the aftermath of Senator Kelly’s video. President Trump called it “seditious” and called on him to be executed. Fortunately our legal system requires someone to be indicted by a grand jury before prosecution; it’s a low bar and when a prosecutor asks for an indictment he normally gets it. But not this time. You can read about it here.

A grand jury consists of ordinary citizens, not lawyers or politicians and it finds its roots in the 5th Amendment of the Constitution.

Frankly I find Senator Kelly’s action was both patriotic and heroic. The Trump administration often uses threats like this as a tool to quash opposition and I’m glad it didn’t work this time.