There have been people arrested for dressing like a cop for a Halloween party. The costume was “too close” to a real uniform in the arresting officer’s mind.
The Stolen Valor Act isn’t about some guy saying he was a SEAL to pick up some floozy at a bar. It’s about guys who wear the medals in an official way, as if they actually earned them.
You go to a Vet reunion wearing a CIB, you better darn well have better been in a unit who participated in combat.
You put a bronze star on a job application? You better have the paperwork to back it up.
Tell the chubby redhead who has downed 3 apple-tinis at the end of the bar that you earned a medal rescuing your buddy during the Iraq invasion to get her back to your apartment? Knock yourself out.
ASB: “There have been people arrested for dressing like a cop for a Halloween party. The costume was “too close” to a real uniform in the arresting officer’s mind.”
If so, the cases should have been tossed out of court. Do you know how these arrests turned out?
ASB: “You put a bronze star on a job application? You better have the paperwork to back it up.”
Putting a bronze star (that you haven’t earned) on a job application would be fraud. That’s not the same thing as strutting around a bar with an unearned bronze star.
There have been people arrested for dressing like a cop for a Halloween party. The costume was “too close” to a real uniform in the arresting officer’s mind.
Yeah... I can believe that one... knowing some cops... LOL...
But, I would like to know how many have been convicted of this crime of doing that at a Halloween party... :-)
The Stolen Valor Act isn’t about some guy saying he was a SEAL to pick up some floozy at a bar. It’s about guys who wear the medals in an official way, as if they actually earned them.
Yeah, I know what some are doing with them, as I've heard about it... but I'm not sure how much of that should be a crime. There's nothing "official" that "result" from that, in the same way that someone can pull over a motorist in a traffic stop, if one pretends to be a policeman.
With a medal, there's no "authority" attached in the way of "doing something" to something else in an official capacity. That seems, to me..., to be more lying than anything else. And it's stupid and foolish to lie, but if you lie in public or you lie in private -- it's a lie, and that's about it.
But, if you accompany that lie with some kind of "action" -- in other words, if I lie about this medal, then I'll qualify for a higher salary -- then there should be some penalty attached, but that's because you're attempting to gain that higher position and/or pay in a job (let's say) because of the medal. Then, in that case, you fire the guy and/or make him pay back the extra pay (for that medal, if this were a real example) -- and that takes care of it.
I don't see it quite as criminal. If you lie on a job application about going to school and getting a degree -- you get fired -- but you're not in the slammer for doing that.
I would imagine that there are variations on that theme, because if you say you got a degree at a medical school and attempt to operate in a hospital operating room, then that kind of lie should be criminal, because it can result in the loss of lives, for someone unqualified operating on someone and killing them.
You go to a Vet reunion wearing a CIB, you better darn well have better been in a unit who participated in combat.
I understand the sentiment there, but that's not a legal matter, although it might be a "beating-him-up" matter... LOL...
You put a bronze star on a job application? You better have the paperwork to back it up.
On a job, if it's affecting being employed, then you should get fired. But, let's say you state you're a Christian, but you're not... you're a Mormon, instead... whoa! they may claim to be Christian but I know they're not... so now who is right... ooops... that was a monkey wrench thrown into that one... LOL...
What I'm saying is that if it's not instrumental in getting hired or part of a job qualification, then it doesn't matter... (and actually they shouldn't bother with it on job applications, if that's the case).
Tell the chubby redhead who has downed 3 apple-tinis at the end of the bar that you earned a medal rescuing your buddy during the Iraq invasion to get her back to your apartment? Knock yourself out.
I guess, for me, it's all about what kind of "official capacity" you are able to "act upon" from that, and then, if it's instrumental and key in something that you are doing, that you could not do, unless you had it...
Otherwise, it's just a "fish story"... if it doesn't make any difference in those categories... [although I do understand why servicemen would be angry about it... and rightfully so...]