“So are laws against perjury now unconstitutional?
And is it OK to lie about whether I’ve bought health insurance?
Or should I just be honest and refuse to pay the healthcare tax on the grounds that I am symbolically speaking out against the tax?
So many questions...”
This has nothing to do with perjury. This is about an unsworn statement that the person made no material gain from. He was a liar who’d lied about other things such as being a professional athlete and being caught up in the Iranian Hostage Crisis in the past. He thought that this would be another good post. You will not be free to commit perjury.
“This has nothing to do with perjury. This is about an unsworn statement that the person made no material gain from.”
Yes it does, and I’ve explained why in other posts on this thread.
Both perjury and lies as described in the Stolen Valor Act are a subset of the class “all lies”. If the basis on which the Stolen Valor Act is struck down is that all lies are protected under the Constitution, then laws against perjury should be struck down also.
The Constitution doesn’t carve out an exception to the First Amendment for the subset of lying that is perjury. Therefore, we must conclude that if lying is protected by the First Amendment, but laws against perjury are OK, then lawmakers have the right to carve out exceptions such as perjury. And if lawmakers have the right to carve out exceptions such as perjury, then they also have the right to carve out exceptions such as stolen valor, EVEN IF PEOPLE LIKE YOU DON’T THINK IT IS AS SERIOUS AS PERJURY.
Even if I agreed with you that this SHOULDN’T be a law, I would DISAGREE with a decision that it is unconstitutional under the First Amendment.