Jacob T. Levy: SCOTUS hasn’t touched the Armed Forces Code of Conduct, but now it’s put members of the armed forces in the position of hearing a command from a president who says “don’t worry, it can’t be unlawful if I’m doing it” and trying to square the circle.

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Would these still be considered unlawful orders from a military command perspective that could be disregarded to prevent the massacre or has SCOTUS basically removed that check on power too?

SCOTUS hasn’t touched the Armed Forces Code of Conduct, but now it’s put members of the armed forces in the position of hearing a command from a president who says “don’t worry, it can’t be unlawful if I’m doing it” and trying to square the circle.

I think the ultimate right answer is that they have a duty to disobey, but at that point you’re gambling on what some particular soldiers believe the law will ultimately be found to say.

And soldiers who may be getting told directly & explicitly that they’ll be pardoned if anyone tries to make a fuss about it

Yes. I think they’re still bound by their oath to disobey a plainly unlawful order; someone saying “go break the law on my behalf and I’ll pardon you after” doesn’t change *that*. But it sure affects our probabilistic estimates about what *will* happen.

Complete nightmare for every military legal office

Or if he declares an official state of emergency, things get a lot more complicated for his general staff.

And he can still fire anyone who says no, right? He’ll gladly go down the line until he finds someone willing to carry out illegal acts if there’s a pardon waiting for them. And there will be *someone* willing to join in his reign of terror.

I won’t be the least bit surprised if he’s got us in a constitutional crisis over his legal authority to order Americans killed w/in the first 6 months. Whether they follow his orders or not (especially once he starts dismissing generals) could be what splinters the military & gets us civil war

I try not to get too carried away imagining different horrible scenarios & maybe my last post is me getting carried away, but Jesus this immunity ruling intersecting with Trump’s personality disorder and MAGA bloodlust is a recipe for mass murder (& boundless corruption & other criminality to boot)

Didn't he already try to order Border Patrol to shoot people and/or shoot across the border?

When a license for unrestrained brutality is on offer, talent fights to get in.

Absolutely. And we’ve seen already just how eager a lot of people are to indulge their worst instincts. Every sadist & sociopath out there is going to be signing up to work for him in whatever capacity available official or unofficial

A scenario I see playing out is Trump saying go shoot them, military leaders pointing out it's unlawful, Trump offering pardons, more pushback. Then a limited "go protect neighborhoods" order and someone leaking that Trump offered pardons for shooting protestors, hoping that induces someone.

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