Judge Says The First Amendment Protects You If You Lie About Receiving A Purple Heart
from the of-course,-it-only-protects-you-against-lawsuits dept
Does the First Amendment protect your ability to lie? Apparently, to some extent, it does. A court has ruled that a law that makes it a crime (with the potential for a year in prison) for falsely claiming to have been awarded military medals such as the Purple Heart, is an unconstitutional violation of free speech rights. Of course, this doesn't mean it's okay to lie about getting a Purple Heart. It just means that the government can't charge you with a crime for that specific act.While lying about receiving military medals is pretty sleazy, that doesn't mean that it should automatically be illegal. The government (who is thinking about appealing) makes this bizarre argument:
"By allowing anyone to claim to possess such decorations, could impact the motivation of soldiers to engage in valorous, and extremely dangerous, behavior on the battlefield."Really? Because some jackass back home pretends to have won a Purple Heart, real soldiers will be less motivated to perform on the battlefield? If so, that seems to say more about the soldier's existing motivation. Besides, it seems like even without this law, social mores already limit this kind of activity. If you're found out lying about military medals, it seems like your reputation would already take a pretty big hit.
Thankfully, the judge in the case found the statement above equally as preposterous:
"This wholly unsubstantiated assertion is, frankly, shocking, and indeed, unintentionally insulting to the profound sacrifices of military personnel the Stolen Valor Act purports to honor," the judge ruled. "To suggest that the battlefield heroism of our servicemen and women is motivated in any way, let alone in a compelling way, by considerations of whether a medal may be awarded simply defies my comprehension."
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Filed Under: free speech, incentives, military medals, purple heart
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
Medal Verification Website
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Medal Verification Website
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
screw the signing bonus
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Wait, what?
Isn't that fraud?
Can I claim to have received a Harvard Diploma? (Seriously, I'll totally run with that if I can.)
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Wait, what?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Wait, what?
Right. It can be fraud. Just depends on what you do with it. But this law made it criminal just to say it, even if you were just bragging about it and not trying to commit actual fraud.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Wait, what?
Seriously though, as an ex military member with 10 purple hearts and a golden earlobe I think it is incredibly distasteful to claim that you have medals that you really don't have. However, I was trying to say exactly what you said in a less elegant way. That's just my style.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Wait, what?
Ah. I see.
Problem is, medals like that are often issued w/o ceremony. So there's often confusion about what is a valid claim and what is not.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Re: Wait, what?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Wait, what?
It's even more difficult on unit citations, where whether someone is officially part of a unit or not can make a difference, regardless of where they were at the time.
But, even given the official distinctions, the SEALs have dealt with this problem by setting up a vetting website, no reason we couldn't deal with this the same way.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Wait, what?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Wait, what?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
just like it isn't illegal to claim to be a police officer, only illegal if you do anything while claiming to be one
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
1. Per the opinion, there is a contrary opinion from another federal district court that is awaiting a decision on appeal before the 9th Circuit.
2. Eugene Volokh of UCLA Law School filed an amicus brief supporting neither party, but which ultimately concluded that the statute would likely pass First Amendment muster. I mention this only because he is a highly respected constitutional law scholar, and one who is strongly supportive of First Amendment rights. Even a quick review of his brief (which, uncharacteristically of legal briefs, is brief) reveals that the issue is not as black and white as some may believe to be the case.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Fortunately, these shameful few were overwhelmed by those who served with distinction and without regard to recognition they might receive as a result of their service. The did their jobs admirably and selflessly.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Credibility
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
maybe we can make it
For example, Take Richard Blumenthal, please
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
MIlitary medals
[ link to this | view in chronology ]