duty to disobey illegal orders theme

also known as: superior orders defense, Nuremberg defense, just following orders

We are asked whether an excuse like "I was merely following orders" is acceptable in some scenario where something illegal or unethical has been perpetrated.

11 total · 1 choice · 2 major · 8 minor

Story	Level	Motivation
bbf4x15	choice	Sheridan deftly cajoled Captain MacDougan and others to turn coat, appealing to their sense of right and wrong as they had been ordered to partake in an illegal blockade.
movie: Paths of Glory (1957)	major	An important component of the story is that an artillery commander was ordered by General Mireau to open fire on their own positions. The commander refused to obey this patently illegal order unless given it in writing, something the general could not do.
voy6x01	major	Chakotay felt it was his duty to stand up to Janeway and not follow crazy orders.
bbf4x16	minor	Following Captain MacDougan’s example from the previous episode, more commanders elected to switch sides rather than follow to unscrupulous and arguably illegal regime on Earth.
bbf5x05	minor	Lochley had decided to remain with President Clark’s regime even as many other commanders abandoned it because it had become illegitimate, we heard.
ds96x11	minor	Dukat justified his actions as ruler over Bajor with the excuse that he was merely following orders.
movie: Cosmic Sin (2021)	minor	Ford stated that he was just following Alliance orders in response to being called out for using a weapon of mass destruction, which resulted in the deaths of 70 million people.
movie: Cube Zero (2004)	minor	Rains called out the low-level Cube operator Wynn for invoking this defense when he justified himself by claiming that he was just the computer guy.
movie: Glory (1989)	minor	Shaw at first refused to obey Colonel Montgomery’s unlawful order to sack and burn a village.
tz1959e3x09	minor	Captain Lutze insisted that he was only following orders when he tortured and ordered the executions of concentration prisoners.