Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Charge dismissed in fake hero's case, Valor Act ruled unconstitutional
Denver Post ^ | 07/16/2010 | Felisa Cardona

Posted on 07/16/2010 11:24:45 AM PDT by george76

A federal judge in Denver has ruled the Stolen Valor Act is "facially unconstitutional" because it violates free speech and dismissed the criminal case against Rick Strandlof, a man who lied about being an Iraq war veteran.

"The Stolen Valor Act is declared to be facially unconstitutional as a content-based restriction on speech that does not serve a compelling government interest, and consequently that the Act is invalid as violative of the First Amendment," Blackburn wrote in his opinion.

Strandlof, 32, was charged with five misdemeanors related to violating the Stolen Valor Act - specifically, making false claims about receiving military decorations.

He posed as "Rick Duncan," a wounded Marine captain who received a Purple Heart and a Silver Star. Strandlof used that persona to found the Colorado Veterans Alliance and solicit funds for the organization.

the ACLU of Colorado and the Rutherford Institute, a nonprofit civil liberties group, all filed briefs with Blackburn contesting the Stolen Valor Act.

They argued that simply lying is not illegal.

The Stolen Valor Act prohibits people from falsely claiming they have been awarded military decorations and medals.

(Excerpt) Read more at denverpost.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Front Page News; Government; News/Current Events; US: Colorado
KEYWORDS: aclu; blackburn; colorado; congress; denver; iraq; judgeblackburn; liars; military; rickduncan; rickstrandlof; rutherford; rutherfordinstitute; stolen; stolenvalor; stolenvaloract; strandlof; valor; valoract; veteran
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-92 next last
To: SeaHawkFan

Why do they have to be specific? Isn’t impersonating a cop illegal? Impersonating an EPA official? Impersonating an indian? Impersonating a doctor?


61 posted on 07/16/2010 3:04:33 PM PDT by pissant (THE Conservative party: www.falconparty.com)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 58 | View Replies]

To: Hot Tabasco

How is this not fraud? I think impersonating a government official is a crime. And whatever claims of fraud are used for that law would be applicable here.


62 posted on 07/16/2010 3:07:00 PM PDT by rabidralph
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: pissant

Compelling government purpose is an element of some of those. A couple of the things you mentioned might not be crimes anyway.


63 posted on 07/16/2010 3:11:35 PM PDT by SeaHawkFan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 61 | View Replies]

To: george76

Fraud is illegal. Impeach the judge.

If impeachment is impossible...

*insert picture of noose*


64 posted on 07/16/2010 3:11:40 PM PDT by Dead Corpse (III, Alarm and Muster)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: george76

Lying is free speech, however, gaining through fraud is a crime.


65 posted on 07/16/2010 3:16:15 PM PDT by CodeToad ("Idiocracy" is not just a movie.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: george76

Lie to the FBI. Won’t that get you five years in a federal pen?


66 posted on 07/16/2010 3:19:59 PM PDT by Daniel II (I'm Jim Thompson, this is my brother Jimmy, and this is my other brother Jimmy)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: freethinker_for_freedom

“How about the leftard scumbags on the US Supreme Court who just struck down Chicago’s anti-gun ordinance? Were you pretty upset to see the federal courts being used to strike down a “duly enacted law”?”

What kind of nonsense is that? You should know, if you don’t, that the Supreme Court is one more Chairman Maobama appointment away from declaring the 2nd amendment null and void.

That said, it seems to me that any rational, honest person would immediately see that no law that denies us our God-given right to self-protection could possibly be deemed “duly enacted.”

And no, with a heavy sigh, there is no God-given right to falsely claim that one has been awarded military decorations and medals for the sake of self-aggrandizement. That being the case, a government is at liberty to pass and enforce laws against impersonating a police officer, doctor, military officer, or even a decorated war hero.

I am so glad that we don’t see the old false moral equivalence too often here at FR. It is *so* tiresome to explain it for the eleventy-hundredth time.


67 posted on 07/16/2010 3:59:14 PM PDT by dsc (Any attempt to move a government to the left is a crime against humanity.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 56 | View Replies]

To: P-Marlowe

“This decision is consistent with the original intent of the Constitution and the prohibition against the government infringing upon speech.”

I don’t think so. Seems to me that the original intent was to protect political and religious speech.


68 posted on 07/16/2010 4:06:27 PM PDT by dsc (Any attempt to move a government to the left is a crime against humanity.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 51 | View Replies]

To: smokingfrog
Piss on you Judge Blackburn!

and the ACLU the day of reckoning will come A*****

69 posted on 07/16/2010 4:21:35 PM PDT by Charlespg
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: circlecity
"They are claiming the military awarded them an honor that it didn't award. So they are not just lying about themselves."

This is an excellent point. It is fundamentally different to say "I ran the 2010 Boston Marathon", and "I was awarded the Silver Star by the U.S. Army."

70 posted on 07/16/2010 4:34:02 PM PDT by magellan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 21 | View Replies]

To: magellan

does anyone know if this will be appealed ?


71 posted on 07/16/2010 4:36:14 PM PDT by Charlespg
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 70 | View Replies]

To: george76

Why isn’t lying illegal if someone’s identity is being abused?


72 posted on 07/16/2010 4:42:35 PM PDT by huldah1776
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: george76

There is no double-jeopardy for the Feds to come back at Strandlof on fraud. The mail fraud is certainly plausible, and if someone conspired with Strandlof on any mailings, it definitely could get interesting.


73 posted on 07/16/2010 4:46:00 PM PDT by magellan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: dsc; xzins; blue-duncan; wmfights; Forest Keeper
I don’t think so. Seems to me that the original intent was to protect political and religious speech.

I don't like the idea of the government deciding what speech it is going to consider to be criminal. If you are going to criminalize speech, then it must be narrowly tailored to criminalize only speech that poses an identifiable danger to the public safety or that actually causes monetary or physical damage to the public or another citizen.

If they can make it criminal to brag about your phony military career, then they can make it criminal to say just about anything that might offend some other person.

As much as I detest these people who pretend to be heroes but are not, I do not want the government making such speech criminal. Political correctness is a two way street. This is just political correctness that conservatives might like. But if you think about it, you should hate this as much as laws which make it a crime to ridicule homosexuals. Eventually you can't even preach a sermon on sin without going to jail.

The government has no business getting into the business of prosecuting braggarts.

74 posted on 07/16/2010 5:04:01 PM PDT by P-Marlowe (LPFOKETT GAHCOEEP-w/o*)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 68 | View Replies]

To: george76
Blackburn, Robert E.
Born 1950 in Lakewood, CO

Federal Judicial Service:
Judge, U. S. District Court, District of Colorado
Nominated by George W. Bush on September 10, 2001, to a seat vacated by Zita L. Weinshienk; Confirmed by the Senate on February 26, 2002, and received commission on March 6, 2002.

Education:
Western State College, B.A., 1972
University of Colorado Law School, J.D., 1974

Professional Career:
Law clerk, Private practice, Colorado, 1975
Private practice, Las Animas, Colorado, 1975-1980
Deputy district attorney, Sixteenth Judicial District Attorney's Office, Colorado, 1980-1986
County attorney, Bent County, Colorado, 1980-1988
Municipal judge, Town of Kim, Colorado, 1985-1988
Judge, Sixteenth Judicial District of Colorado, 1988-2002

75 posted on 07/16/2010 5:04:06 PM PDT by SmithL
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: AdmSmith; Arthur Wildfire! March; Berosus; bigheadfred; blueyon; Convert from ECUSA; dervish; ...
...the ACLU of Colorado and the Rutherford Institute, a nonprofit civil liberties group, all filed briefs with Blackburn contesting the Stolen Valor Act. They argued that simply lying is not illegal.
So much for "hate speech" laws.
76 posted on 07/16/2010 5:06:54 PM PDT by SunkenCiv ("Fools learn from experience. I prefer to learn from the experience of others." -- Otto von Bismarck)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: xzins; blue-duncan; george76; wmfights; Forest Keeper
“Stealing valor” is generally for a purpose. They are running some confidence game....whether for money, position, political advantage, etc. Isn’t “conning” people illegal?

If there are provable damages, then it is both criminal and subject to civil damages. But conning people just to make them think you are a more important person than you really are does not damage anyone other than to damage your own reputation.

If some guy is "stealing valor" by pinning phony medals on his chest for no other purpose than to impress chicks, it is no more of a "con" than a woman who pads her bra to impress guys.

Should we make it a crime for single women to pad their bras?

Is this really something the government should be getting involved in?

77 posted on 07/16/2010 5:10:23 PM PDT by P-Marlowe (LPFOKETT GAHCOEEP-w/o*)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 57 | View Replies]

To: P-Marlowe

I guess I can misrepresent my self as a FBI agent then


78 posted on 07/16/2010 5:20:04 PM PDT by Charlespg
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 74 | View Replies]

To: Charlespg
I guess I can misrepresent my self as a FBI agent then

Anyone can buy a shirt that says "FBI" on it.

And a hat.

And a coffee mug.


79 posted on 07/16/2010 5:37:51 PM PDT by P-Marlowe (LPFOKETT GAHCOEEP-w/o*)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 78 | View Replies]

To: xzins

Here is an actual case of a Mayor convicted of a FELONY, for backdating a semi-phony (purchased) diploma:

http://www.oregonlive.com/west-linn/index.ssf/2010/05/ex-west_linn_mayor_patti_galle_pleads_guilty_to_lying_sentenced_to_probation.html

DG


80 posted on 07/16/2010 6:57:26 PM PDT by DoorGunner ("Rom 11: until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in; 26 and so, all Israel will be saved")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 57 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-92 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson