>>The Army will present their evidence showing why they were legal.<<
I don’t want to belabor the point. We could go on and on with this and would gain us nothing it seems. But.
It seems to me that, under the “innocent until proven guilty” system, if the State has to prove they were legal orders it would ultimately lead to the CIC. If the CIC is not the constitutional CIC then the original order was not legal.
No. Not all orders originate from the commander-in-chief. Long established military precedent has found that routine orders, such as those given Lakin by three superior officers, do not rely on the president for their authority. The authority to issue them comes with the position the officer giving the order is holding. Lakin himself could order a subordinate to report for duty at a certain time or perform a routine task regardless of Obama's eligibility. That order would be lawful.