"Following orders" is not an excuse.
The findings of the Nuremburg Tribunals are oft quoted in US law and jurisprudence and following orders comes under the notion of command responsibility.
'Command responsibility' is a defense in which the accused is still held responsible for his actions but the punishment is lessened.
Those law enforcement officers who violated their oaths by following orders still need to be stripped of their badges, their guns, and their pensions. At the very least.
Preachin' to the choir there Meg.
