Posted on 02/08/2010 8:46:03 AM PST by lbryce
When does bragging become illegal?
Federal courts in California and Colorado will soon hear two cases that struggle with the question of whether lying about military service is a criminal offense.
In California, Xavier Alvarez said during a public meeting that he received the Medal of Honor for his time in the Marines. Alvarez never served in the military and pleaded guilty to misrepresenting himself on the condition that he could appeal on the basis of the First Amendment.
In Colorado, Rick Strandlof said he was a former Marine with a Purple Heart and Silver Star, claims which he used when establishing a non-profit organization to help homeless veterans (he was posing as "Rick Duncan," according to The Denver Post). He was charged with five misdemeanors.
The crimes of both men are punishable via the the Stolen Valor Act, which established in 2006 that lying about earning an American military medal is a crime and could carry a punishment of up to a year in jail. The law forbids anyone to wear a military medal that was not earned.
AP via Washington Post: Dozens of people have been arrested under the law at a time when troops coming home from wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have been embraced as heroes. Almost all of the impostors were ordered to perform community service.,
While the First Amendment does not protect lewd, libelous or imminently dangerous speech, does this mean it protects lies about military service as long as those lies do not hurt another person?
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
when are they going to charge Kerry?
Kerry, demonstrating how he executed by shooting in the back a wounded enemy soldier.
If they commit fraud prosecute them, if they're caught lying about be a vet shame them.
“All your other examples are opinions.”
According to Obama, the science is “settled” about Global Warming. It’s a fact.
The line between face and opinion is a difficult line sometimes.
Criminalizing speech because of preening morons is an insult to the Constitution I swore to protect.
Just beat them up. Not everything has to have a law.
The leftists resent how the Stolen Valor Act cramps the style of the phony vets and liars who tell all those wonderful stories about US “war crimes.”
The act forbids fraudulently claiming to have been awarded a decoration of the United States. These decorations are established by law and constitute the honors system of the United States. Having created these decorations, the United States is entitled, on behalf of itself and the true recepients, to protect that honor. I believe that the United States also has an obligation to do so.
This is not a matter of free speech, it is fraud. I don’t believe that the law says anything about military service, just the fraudulent claim to decorations or medals. The prosecutions that I have seen have been quite blatant. Persons who have never seen military service wearing multiple decorations including the highest valor awards, or politicians who stand to gain claiming that they are decorated veterans. If someone knows of some blowhard who claimed he was SEAL during some pubfest, and was subsequently prosecuted, let me know.
Make that Kelo case.
“What about the phony soldiers who claim to have served, protest against our wars, and claim to have witnessed war crimes?”
They are called Senators in Massachusetts.
I agree with you completely...it’s tantamount to counterfeiting currency.
We used to throw people in jail because they were a danger to society. Now we throw people in jail because they make us mad. That is why we have the world’s largest prison population.
Impersonate a law enforcement officer, doctor, or judge and see what the charge is.
You could make the same case that IMPERSONATING an ACTIVE soldier also causes chaos in society, so I would favor outlawing that. But impersonating an active soldier is different that lying about the medals you received (or if you were ever in the military).
It isn’t that I favor of people lying about their military experience, I just worry about outlawing speech (even bad speech). Where will it go? Now that the precedent is set, who decides where it will go?
Best post of day, nice!
I’m with you. Unless they cause real damage with their lie, we should go back to the way we used to handle this. Ass kicking and derision.
What about John Fin Kerry's friends?
“What about the phony soldiers who claim to have served, protest against our wars, and claim to have witnessed war crimes?”
I’d say yes to that one... sounds like slander to me.
I don’t like the law as written, as it seems to make illegal some valid reasons for purchasing military decorations (e.g. creating a shadowbox as a gift to a military member, museum displays, etc...)
If the intent is to prevent the fraudulent use of military decorations for personal gain, it should state so clearly and limit the scope of the law.
You are not suggesting that this POS served in our military?
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