The “Burden of proff” is on the prosecution. They need to prove that the order to deploy is lawful by verifying the lawfulness of Obama’s eligibility.
Actually, that's not true. If it was, then the military would have to prove the lawfulness of every single order it gave whenever someone disagreed with one.
That's why the presumption is actually that the order is lawful, and so the challenger has to prove that it isn't.
And before he can do that, he has to show that there is enough doubt to allow him to make his argument.
And before he does that, he has to show that he challenged the order in a lawful way, so that he can be allowed to show his doubt.
Personally, I think he's right. But the military is not constructed so as to make successfully challenging orders easy.
“The “Burden of proff” is on the prosecution. They need to prove that the order to deploy is lawful by verifying the lawfulness of Obama’s eligibility.”
Unfortunately, military law doesn’t function that way. It is designed around the presumption that civilian authority has done its job to ensure a valid chain of command from the top down. Therefore, Dr. Lakin is being hammered by a system not designed to deal with someone of his high character, and an administration of such low character. Thus, a system of justice that works under normal conditions doesn’t work in this case. So, a good man is going down in flames.
The military system of justice is not trully flawed, the presumptions it is based upon are. I agree that Dr. Lakin is correct to question the POTUS’ NBC credentials. However, the UCMJ and its traditional implementation are not set up to deal with such questioning. This particular situation is unique in history. The fact that things have deteriorated in the following of the constitution by civil authorities has created this crisis. A person of LTC Lakin’s high character would never have challenged a sitting presidents authority IF the civilian side had done their duty to the constitution. Thus, he feels honor bound to challenge, but the military is not set up for such a challenge.
Boy....I’m writing alot and not really making much sense....time to stop.
No, they don't. The Army's charge is that Lakin refused to obey the orders of his brigade commander, not Obama. They won't have a problem proving that. Lakin, on the other hand, has to show how that officer's order were unlawful.
No, under the manual for courts martial, the burden is on the person alleging the order was unlawful. However, that person must be given the opportunity, and thus the access to information, to make that case, at trial.