Fran Boyle opinion on the Lawful Order

[Guest guest]

Professor Francis Boyle, of the University of Illinois Law School asked

me to post this to the list. It appears to be highly relevant for the

conduct of the Court Martials now in progress.:

The Government must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the order was

lawful. Authority for this can be found in the ruling from the Bench by

the

Marine Corp. Colonel Judge in the Court-Martial Proceedings of USMC Jeff

Paterson, the first Gulf War Resister, who was prosecuted for failing to

obey a lawful order--Bush's order to ship out to the Gulf--given the

Monday

before Thanksgiving, 1990, Kanehoe Bay, Hawaii. After about 20 minutes

of

oral argument, the Judge agreed with our argument that this result was

constitutionally required under Mullaney v. Wilbur and In Re Winship.

Francis A. Boyle

Professor of International Law

--

Meryl Nass, M.D.

Parkview Hospital, Brunswick, Maine 04011

email mnass@...

phone (207) 865-0875

fax (207) 865-6975