Largely buried under the avalanche of controversy over the Supreme Court ruling on the health care law was another decision handed down from the high court today on the Stolen Valor Act, legislation passed by Congress and signed into law in 2006 by President Bush making it a crime to falsely claim to have received military honors.
SCOTUS (a handy little acronym for the highest court in the land) ruled 6-3 that the law violated the protections of free speech granted by the First Amendment.
This legal brouhaha stems from a case in which a man who falsely claimed receiving the Medal of Honor was convicted in 2007 of violating the Stolen Valor Act and sentenced to three years probation, a $5,000 fine and community service. Hardly a heavy-handed sentence, but one that proved unsatisfactory to the convicted party, one Mr. Xavier Alvarez, who argued his case all the way up to the top.
Regardless of your position on the law or its constitutionality, one has to wonder just how often pathetic frauds like Mr. Alvarez have deceptively claimed to be military honorees and enjoyed special treatment and undeserved accolades as a result. My initial feeling is that it is probably rather rare that anyone be so bold and dismissive of legitimate recipients by posing as a war hero. Then again, maybe I am naive.
It would be interesting to hear from some of our readers on this issue. If you have a chance, put in your two cents by leaving a comment on the Homes for Heroes blog or our Facebook page. I realize that this is a heated topic that can cause people to get a little hot under the collar, but make sure to remain respectful and reasoned when sharing your opinions. But by all means, speak your mind!
Does this mean that people can dress as military cops and pull people over in the name of free speech? Or was the law struck down because any idiot can speak his mind and fill our ears with lies? I would be willing to bet that if the person was carrying a false ID or false government paperwork there would be a different set of laws violated and he would be in jail. Just saying you were in the “suck” should not be a crime. It should be a trigger for someone calling “BS” to his face, or would that be considered verbal assault? Where would SCOTUS rule then? Would they say it is okay to lie to people but not okay to tell the liar off……
Yeah the ruling doesn’t really offer any clarity on free speech laws. Maybe a distinction might be made if your actions/words have a direct and tangible negative impact on others, such as in the instance that someone posing as a cop pulls you over/takes advantage of you. However, posing as a war hero might end up resulting in the same, as those who trusted the imposter will end up with egg on their face….
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