Posted on 08/19/2010 12:11:49 PM PDT by lbryce
Criminalizing speech is a tricky business, but Congress seemed to think it had found the right balance in 2006 when it overwhelmingly enacted the Stolen Valor Act, which made it a crime simply to lie about having received a military medal or service badge. Stolen Valor Act ruling Xavier AlvarezTherese Tran/Inland Valley Daily Bulletin Xavier Alvarez falsely claimed to have been a U.S. Marine and Medal of Honor recipient.
But the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit begs to differ. In a decision released on Tuesday, the three-judge panel, based in San Francisco, declared the law unconstitutional because it infringed on the defendant’s freedom of speech, even if it was false. That defendant, Xavier Alvarez, had claimed to be a Marine and a winner of the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest military award. He was neither.
In a 2-to-1 ruling, the appellate court said that if the law were held constitutional, many everyday lies could become criminal acts. “There would be no constitutional bar to criminalizing lying about one’s height, weight, age, or financial status on Match.com or Facebook, or falsely representing to one’s mother that one does not smoke, drink alcoholic beverages, is a virgin, or has not exceeded the speed limit while driving on the freeway,” Judge Milan D. Smith, Jr., wrote for the majority. “The sad fact is, most people lie about some aspects of their lives from time to time.”
For the government to limit freedom of speech, it would have to show a compelling need, the decision argued, and not just that a person was lying about military honors. But the majority concluded that the central intent of the law, to motivate and honor troops, could be accomplished without restricting speech.
(Excerpt) Read more at atwar.blogs.nytimes.com ...
Well, it now seems that these sad people with obvious self-esteem issues desperately in need of a good shrink, but otherwise harmless, can now rejoice that they can once again play soldier hero, purple-heart recipient, be ogled by all, as the Stolen Valor Act of 2005 having been ruled unconstitutional.
"I wear it mostly to get chicks.They go crazy for medals."
hmmm.
Does this mean I can dress like a LEO and say I am one, and receive the honor and authorities of being one?
OR would I go to jail for that?
Thanks.
Aside from the fact that stolen valor is scummy behavior, when used as a qualification, whether by a politician or a private person, it is false advertising. False resumes in the private sector often result in firing. Also, we have false advertising and false labeling acts for many products. Why wasn’t this issue raised when thinking about who is harmed by the lie?
So does that mean I can go apply for veterans benefits? (not a vet)
The government should do something worthwhile for a change & make it REALLY easy to search a database for recipients of all the awards they grant.
Different article; same subject. Ninth Circus :(
Well, if a man can
-pretend to be a U.S. citizen instead of a Kenyan
-can pretend to be a Christian when he is clearly Muslim
-pretends to be a socialist when he is clearly a DIE HARD MARXIST
-is allowed to hold the highest office in the U.S. under these false pretenses,
then I guess the solen valor thingy is really no big deal.
or try impersonating a member of the all-important legal clergy...
“Fake Lawyer Sentenced To Federal Prison”
http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/24664979/detail.html
As obnoxious as those lying POSs are, the court made the right call. Absent some actual fraud (which requires a material benefit from the lie), I don’t see any way this can be made illegal, any more than you can make it illegal for some barroom Lothario to tell the girls that he has a ten-inch schlong.
or a doctor ...
or a sexual therapist ;-p
So I guess perjury shouldn’t be a crime either under their “reasoning”...
Our descent into civil war is accelerating. I think it’s being orchestrated. They hit our hot buttons: 1) Hamas-que at Ground Zero; 2) ‘Gay’ ‘Marriage’; 3) Zero is a Muslim poll; 4) and now, spit on valor with fake medals.
“Does this mean I can dress like a LEO and say I am one, and receive the honor and authorities of being one?”
It remains against the law to dress as an active duty soldier.
Being Israeli, I have no idea how to tell the difference in US dress code.
But the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit begs to differ.
Every day, every day, the legal oligarchy usurps the power of the elected representation, which in a Republic is the people's voice. That of course is what Barack Obama, Cass Sunstein, Elena Kagan, Rahm Emmanuel, and the lawyer-funded Democratic Party is about. It is going on right here in our jurisdiction.
That of course is also what the Reformation was all about; reaction to every day the heirarchy of the Clergy interpreting what the layman was to follow (to the point incidentally of indulgence taxes), the Bicameral society.
One would think that even right-thinking Democratic Congressman would be somewhat disturbed at being made a joke. But I guess they are more interested in their taxpayer funded bennies and self deception.
Johnny Suntrade
Pretty sure those kinds of issues were raised, but the courts have said there are already laws against fraud that suffice to punish that behavior without further restricting freedom of speech.
I must be missing something here... How can lying be a protected first amendment right? More and more our judges seem to be getting things backwards.
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