Long after the medal was restored, the decision was thought to be controversial for several reasons. Some people interpreted Senator Simpson's submission as arguing that the law had never required Cody to be a soldier, however this was never a key element to Senator Simpson's brief. According to these interpretations Simpson's submission cited a book, "Above and Beyond", to illustrate the lack of requirement to be a soldier, however it was recognized in the legal brief that Medal of Honor recipients had to be an officer or enlisted soldier. Another problem cited by some was the authority of the Board to contravene several federal statutes because the Medal of Honor revocation had been expressly authorized by Congress, meaning that the restoration went against the law in force in 1872, the law requiring the revocation in 1916, and the modern statute enacted in 1918 that remains substantially unmodified today. However the legal brief clearly did not suggest overturning of the law, but rather conforming the status of civilian scouts to that of other scouts similarly situated (source: copy of the actual legal brief, by the author).