Honouring Legitimate Disobedience

There are a variety of ways that state actors can legitimate acts of resistance. One way is to reward such action in a public manner. As reported by NPR and other news outlets earlier today, President Barack Obama conferred upon Dakota Meyer, a former United States Marine the Medal of Honor. Meyer and his colleague brought themselves into the line of fire numerous times over several hours to save wounded colleagues harried by an ambush attack by the Taliban in Afghanistan. Meyer's actions were resistive in that he disobeyed his superiors' order by stepping into the line of fire. Had he obeyed his orders, many of his colleagues may have been killed or seriously injured. His actions were intimately intertwined with his disobedience. Disobeying superior orders is a serious offense and particularly so during combat operations (at least with respect to sentencing). Yet as with any rule, there are exceptions. By rewarding this disobedience, the President, as commander-in-chief, recognizes the importance, at least on certain occasions of defying the orders of superiors.