The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals appears correct. I was momentarily distracted by pleasant speculations about sending elected officials to jail, but criminalizing even egregious lies is simply wrong by the First Amendment. However, profiting from lies in terms of power and money is wrong. In that case you have victims. The act does seem to recognize the link in findings by saying:
(2) Federal law enforcement officers have limited ability to prosecute fraudulent claims of receipt of military decorations and medals.
However, the act goes on to ignore fraud and make the statements by themselves criminal. I will speculate the problem resides with disinterest by law enforcement and district attorneys in establishing the linkages for acquisition of power and money, and prosecuting the resulting crimes.
I will also speculate that powerful constituencies have not altered their attitudes toward the military since Vietnam. I was popularly regarded as a deranged, drug addicted, baby killing, fascist, pig. Now my Marine son holds popular distinction as a despondent, mentally challenged, chemically dependent, cold blooded, killer. And if you think that characterization inaccurate consult, John Kerry, Jack Murtha, and the VA answering machine.
It is interesting to witness these claims of manly valor after the fact. A fellow veteran recently sent me an email reproducing an internet claim (Thank heavens for such irrefutable sources!) that from census records six or eight times as many claim service in Vietnam as actually did. Here is another reason to hold my Baby Boomer generation in contempt.
Text of S. 1998 [109th]: Stolen Valor Act of 2005
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=s109-1998
I would probably agree but I would have a very broad definition of ‘profitng’.
I had the misfortune of having worked for about 5 years with someone who said he was a Viet Nam vet. He may have been but I and two more co workers who were vets agreed, he talked about it way too much. We never caught him in an obvious lie nor did we really try but there wasn't a single day that went by when he was not talking about being a war vet.
My vet co workers and I got so sick of hearing about it that we avoided him at every opportunity.
I don't talk about my service, not because I wish to avoid it but because it just never comes up in conversation, with one exception, every year on the Sunday nearest Veteran's Day, our Pastor at our little church (attendance about 60 on Sundays) has every vet come up and stand in front of the congregation and the congregation passes by and shakes their hands and gives out hugs. Even at that he doesn't distinguish between war vets and peace time vets. I like it that way, if you served, you served. If you weren't called on to go to a war zone, so what? You were there and ready, if called.