Posted on 06/28/2012 6:34:36 PM PDT by Lowell1775
Court tosses law about false claims on medals
Published June 28, 2012
Associated Press
WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court on Thursday struck down a federal law making it a crime to lie about receiving the Medal of Honor and other prized military awards, with justices branding the false claim "contemptible" but nonetheless protected by the First Amendment.
The court voted 6-3 in favor of Xavier Alvarez, a former local elected official in California who falsely said he was a decorated war veteran and had pleaded guilty to violating the 2006 law, known as the Stolen Valor Act. The law, enacted when the U.S. was at war in Afghanistan and Iraq, was aimed at people making phony claims of heroism in battle.
The ruling, written by Justice Anthony Kennedy, ordered that the conviction be thrown out.
"Though few might find respondent's statements anything but contemptible, his right to make those statements is protected by the Constitution's guarantee of freedom of speech and expression. The Stolen Valor Act infringes upon speech protected by the First Amendment," Kennedy said.
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/06/28/court-tosses-law-about-false-claims-on-medals/?test=latestnews#ixzz1z8p61pwm
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
How is lying about having medals any different than lying about colleges, certifications, being a Doctor, Lawyer, etc.....
A person's military service and record is often a key criteria used in hiring and association.....
I would certainly hire Audie Murphy over Bill Clinton.
I am confused. Comments?
Barry’s Supremes peed all over veterans today. I guess they figured this would be buried after they sided with Communist Party USA on CommieCare.
His conviction may have been overturned,but Alvarez is still a POS.Even he knows what he is by now.
I wonder if it is legal to carry an FBI or State Police badge and use it to impress and win entrance into events and awards.
So now outright fraud is protected speech.
Just like I can now legally and loudly proclaim myself to be an ICE agent who DOES NOT follow Obama’s non-arrest policies upon entering any public place...right?
My contention is that not all things of worth can be expressed in monetary terms, and military service, and the recognition thereof, is not only one such thing, but needs to be given special consideration based on its essential role in preserving our society. Falsely claiming such recognition undermines the recognition bestowed upon the legitimate medal awardees in much the same way the holder of a counterfeit $100 bill victimizes every holder of a legitimate $100 bill.
Above and beyond that, it is my contention that as military medals, skills badges, tabs, etc. presuppose an extensive orders process, falsely claiming such should fall in the same category as forging or falsifying any other offical government record.
Bring back DITHF.
It's the same thing, and I don't see how the Freedom of Speech, which is the freedom to express your opinions, covers lying about military service.
One thing the Stupid Supremes didn't do is say I can't point and laugh and make fun of and advertise those that steal valor from the brave guys that earned those medals.
We just have to catch them and make their life miserable.
I was a cook, last enlistment, spooky first time around. That's it. I have a chest full of ribbons, but 2 of them are staying enlisted and not getting arrested ribbons (Good Conduct).
The value of military honors has been diminshing over the years.
/johnny
This law had to be overturned otherwise Obama might be subjected to fraud charges regarding his birth certificate. /s
I am not trying to be ugly about this, but try reading the opinions - they are quick and easy reads. I read Allito dissent, interesting. There is an explaination on this. It is only about 50 pages.
LOL! On the weekend the Mavs were playing in the play-offs in Dallas and I had drill weekend and neither my boss nor my CO wanted to let me get away....
I managed to work out a deal with the CO to go back to the resturant kitchen I managed after 1400.
I got caught in traffic, and showed up late, didn't bother to change from uniform into a chef's jacket, hit the door and yelled "immigration! Alto!"
2 of my guys bailed out the back door that I thought was no longer used and blocked.
We had a sit-down the next week and did new I-9s on everybody, including me.
/johnny
I think the best bet here is to scare the fakes. There are now websites that expose fakes, so why not put a “bounty”, as it were, on them? That is, let it be known that it is open season on ‘spanking’ such fakes.
Remember back when some federal court decided that it was “free speech” to desecrate our flag, and the response was to punch out the flag burners? A lot of LEOs basically wagged their finger at the puncher and said, “naughty, naughty!”, but did nothing.
Right now, organizations like VeriSEAL estimate the number of fakes to real US Navy SEALs is about 200:1.
So the odds are that when you see some middle aged, pot-bellied and flabby, pasty faced, patchouli smelling, pencil-necked geek hitting on women in bars claiming to to be a an “ex-SEAL with a Congressional Medal of Honor”, he is *lying*.
And nobody is going to get really upset if he is wearing a nose splint for a week or two.
“Barry’s Supremes peed all over veterans today.”
Yup. You can now slander the limitary at will.
First states (Arizona), then the people (Obamacare), now veterans.
Bad week for freedom and the American way of life.
As far as I know, this guy didn't claim anything of (monetary) value...
...but his mere lying about his military deeds and achievments stoked the antiwar movement and jeopardized real Rangers and other soldiers.
The only reason his subsequent lies had any credibility is because of his claims to certain military achievments.
IMHO, the lies he used to gain entrée to the media and to become the darling of the anti-war crowd should, in and of themselves, be prosecutable.
I think you are trivializing the egregious nature of this particular “decision”.
For what it’s worth, I sat on many a bar stool back in my younger days,(including NCO clubs,AMVETS and VFWs around the world) and not once did any of the lying drunken sleezebags ever claim to be ex-SEAL/Ranger/Special Forces/ETC as a pick up line.
Even the “trash” at the few biker bars and honkytonks I visited refrained from such actions.
As an office manager for many years, having watched a lot of resumes pass my desk, again, I don’t recall ever seeing someone trying to lie their way into a job that way.
Apparently only politicians, media personalities and predatory sexual perverts make such false claims.
So SCOTUS tosses out the law against them because...?
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