Anyone can buy a shirt that says "FBI" on it.
And a hat.
And a coffee mug.
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 ...
Why do they have to be specific? Isn’t impersonating a cop illegal? Impersonating an EPA official? Impersonating an indian? Impersonating a doctor?
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.
Compelling government purpose is an element of some of those. A couple of the things you mentioned might not be crimes anyway.
Fraud is illegal. Impeach the judge.
If impeachment is impossible...
*insert picture of noose*
Lying is free speech, however, gaining through fraud is a crime.
Lie to the FBI. Won’t that get you five years in a federal pen?
“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.
“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.
and the ACLU the day of reckoning will come A*****
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."
does anyone know if this will be appealed ?
Why isn’t lying illegal if someone’s identity is being abused?
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.
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.
...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.
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?
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.
Here is an actual case of a Mayor convicted of a FELONY, for backdating a semi-phony (purchased) diploma:
DG
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