Whether a federal law that makes it a crime to lie about receiving military medals or honors violates the First Amendment’s guarantee of the right to free speech.The Professor's view is laid out in the title of his opinion piece.
Lying about receiving a Medal of Honor? It’s shameful — but it shouldn’t be a crime.Here is the lede:
Xavier Alvarez will soon have something to brag about, assuming anyone believes him. On Wednesday, he will join the small number of citizens who have appeared before the U.S. Supreme Court. He has secured this distinction, however, not by what he achieved in his life but what he falsely claimed to have achieved.I would think that the answer here would be obvious to all right-thinking (as in correct thinking) Americans. The issue isn't about lying about receiving the the Medal of Honor. The issue is about giving the Government one more tool with which to coerce Government-desired behavior. ["You 'know' it is for your own good."]
Alvarez, you see, is a liar. Upon that much, everyone agrees. What has perplexed judges is whether his lies are protected by the First Amendment.
If the US Congress can criminalize lying about the number of Air Medals I received, then they can criminalize just about anything. (And, frankly, I don't remember—I think it was 17, but what if it was just 16?)
Let us be clear here. If I falsely solicit money from the public, claiming I have Post Traumatic Stress problems, brought on by the events surrounding my MoH earning event, it s fraud. We already have a law for that, at the local level. We don't need another Federal law dealing with this.
If SCOTUS confirms this law, which I most sincerely hope it does not, we should each write to those thee people representing us in Congress and tell them to repeal this law before some Federal Prosecutor uses it in a manner never intended. That is part of what being a Federal Prosecutor involves—taking tools laying around and finding new uses for them. That is what the are paid to do. And, it is legal for them to lie to you, but it is not legal for you to lie to them.
Ask yourself, where would Civil Rights be today if the RICO Act had been passed in 1936?
Regards — Cliff
2 comments:
In re making a fraudulent claim for PTSD, you can't GET a disability payment without a medical diagnosis.....thus...you can claim PTSD til the cows wander into the barn.....but without the Me Doctor note...no moolah. Now...if you DON'T have PTSD....is it YOU or the Doctor who has committed the fraud?
We just have to stop with the law making. We have so many laws on the books now that every citizen in the US is a Federal law breaker of some sort and could easily be prosecuted and fined or jailed or both. We are driven by the philosophy that if we just make a law....something disagreeable will magically go away. It won't and we will discover some innuendo in the law that will ultimately require another law to correct or moderate or mitigate the damage done or not done with the first law.
People who worry about whether or not someone else is lying about medals or other acts performed during a war or conflict that happened over 40 or 50 years ago have waaaaaay too much time on their hands and frankly....need to climb down from their ivory towers.
My response to the wild eyed holier than thous who spend their lives ferreting out liars is A) get a life of your own, and B)who cares what delusions of grandeur someone else professes to be true.......we have a whole bunch of folks who do that with our approval and generous support.....they are called The Congress.
Cliff, you knocked this one out of the park. And Neal, I want to echo a lot of what you said here, too. I'm in strong agreement with the notion that the gov't needs to back down on this whole Stolen Valor thing.
Lying shouldn't be a crime. Neither should be a halloween costume that has someone wearing a Green Beret, or a Soldier's Medal, or a Navy Cross, or whatever it is.
If someone tries to falsely claim Iraq or Afghanistan veteran status to self-aggrandize, like that anti-war darling from a couple years back out of Colorado (I can't remember the guy's name, but he said he was a Marine by way of the USNA), then by all means let's *out* the guy publicly. As for groups doing that on their own in order to shame people who claim false honors or membership into elite fraternities (i.e. SEALs, SF, fighter pilots, CCT/PJ, etc.), I say fine, as long as they're doing it on their own dime with their own time.
But to criminalize someone falsely wearing or claiming to have received a decoration is to go down a scary path.
What happens if I make a joke like, "I would've wrestled in the Olympics, but I lost my amateur status when I won $50 in a bowling tournament," or if I make my Facebook status say "The Red Sox are listing me as 'probable' for Thursday's game despite my bum ankle?"
Could THOSE sorts of things be criminalized? Yikes..
Post a Comment