Government

Stolen Valor: Supreme Court Asked to Uphold Military Impostor Law

In 2007, Xavier Alvarez, a California resident, claimed that as a Marine he was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor — he lied. He became the first person convicted under the Stolen Valor Act, which was signed into law in 2006. Though he appealed and won on the grounds that the law violated the First Amendment, the Justice Department last Thursday petitioned the Supreme Court uphold the law.

The Supreme Court has yet to announce their decision to hear Justice Department’s petition or not.

Justice Department Asks Supreme Court to Uphold Stolen Valor Act

Xavier Alvarez wrongly said he earned the Congressional Medal of Honor during a suburban water board meeting. (Photo: Los Angeles Times Magazine)

According to Wired, Alvarez was fined $5,000 and required 416 hours of community service in 2006. When he appealed, the federal appeals court hearing the case ruled the law unconstitutional:

The issue before the justices comes from the San Francisco–based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled if it were to uphold the law, “then there would be no constitutional bar to criminalizing lying about one’s height, weight, age, or financial status on Match.com or Facebook, or falsely representing to one’s mother that one does not smoke, drink alcoholic beverages, is a virgin, or has not exceeded the speed limit while driving on the freeway.”

The Stolen Valor Act makes it unlawful to falsely indicate that one has “to have been awarded any decoration or medal authorized by Congress for the Armed Forces of the United States, any of the service medals or badges awarded to the members of such forces, the ribbon, button, or rosette of any such badge, decoration, or medal, or any colorable imitation of such item.”

The Justice Department is seeking for Alarez’s prosecution by the Supreme Court upholding the law because when Congress adopted the law it said falsifying these honors “damages the reputation and meaning of such decorations and medals.“ Wired also reported that the Justice Department said ”the speech fits into the ‘narrowly limited’ classes of speech, such as defamation, that is historically unprotected by the First Amendment.”

Comments (21)

  • jon.weiss
    Posted on July 3, 2012 at 12:17am

    I read this one, then took my military awards off the wall in the small display case that my mother made for them, and put them where the SCOTUS has deemed the belong, in a cardboard box in the garage, they are no longer of any importance, nor is the time I wasted serving the country.

    Report Post »  
  • KlemKadiddlehopper
    Posted on August 28, 2011 at 4:54am

    I say he should get an opportunity to receive the MOH…posthumously.

    Report Post »  
  • does this burka make me look fat?
    Posted on August 24, 2011 at 6:08am

    I’ve met people like this. Claimed to be a 21 year old Marine sniper (SSgt.) with 32 kills. Claimed to have been shot and was even able to show a scar where a bullet allegedly got him. Forgetting that he was talking to a Marine mom….he went on with his story….’till I asked him when he got his blood stripe.
    He couldn’t answer me. I got a hold of his SS# and got in touch with a friend and found out this guy joined the Corps but never made it out of boot camp, I knew from the moment he opened his mouth that he was a pile of @rap. I hate liars…..especially ones who lie to this extent. I feel as well that someone willing to go to this extent to lie about something like this is some what unstable and
    probably dangerous.
    Now as far as whether it’s a first amendment rights issue….I think not. It‘s not your right to lie and if you tried to impersonate a cop you’d find yourself in trouble and that first amendment defense wouldn’t work,

    Report Post » does this burka make me look fat?  
    • Flagwaver
      Posted on August 24, 2011 at 8:57am

      I had something similar happen to me. I am a combat veteran and am one of the recipients of the SecDef coin. I don’t remember being handed the coin because of the drugs I was on in Walter Reid. Well, I was talking to a supposed vet from the Army who said that he met the SecDef. I asked him if he got a coin and he looked at me like a deer in the headlights. Yeah, needless to say, I knew he was talking out of his Democrat Mouth.

      Report Post » Flagwaver  
  • Dougral Supports Israel
    Posted on August 24, 2011 at 5:32am

    So, if there’s no constitutional bar to criminalizing lying on Match.com, can we ,ake a law that throws politicians in jail for lying?

    Report Post »  
  • NOBALONEY
    Posted on August 24, 2011 at 5:29am

    So now, the Supreme will have to decide if lying is a right under the First amendment. Have we all lost our marbles? How did we get to this? Common Sense replaced with idiocy!

    Report Post » NOBALONEY  
  • auntmoxie.com
    Posted on August 24, 2011 at 4:16am

    Is it just me or is the bit quote from “Wired” so poorly written that it’s impossible to comprehend?

    Lying about the Medal of Honor? Lying about your weight on Match.com? What the….?

    I’m sorry, but my synapses are not all firing, apparently.

    Report Post » auntmoxie.com  
    • sissykatz
      Posted on August 24, 2011 at 7:49am

      Aunt Moxie

      I am with you. I had to read and reread and read again. I am not sure if it was poorly written or if the topic is so insane it is impossible to comprehend. This entire thing makes no sense. I see no connection with frauduently Impersonating an officer in the military and lying about my height on Match.com. My suggestion would be to completely do away with the ultra liberal 9th Circuit court.
      They never get anything right. Almost every decision they make is eventually overturned.

      They have the Liberal Disease and it has ruined that court.

      Report Post »  
  • KickinBack
    Posted on August 24, 2011 at 2:34am

    To hell with him. He dishonors not only those that have earned that honor, but every single American who has fought and died for this country. This shouldn’t even be an issue.

    Report Post » KickinBack  
  • El Pistoffo
    Posted on August 24, 2011 at 2:10am

    I know this is off topic but anyone at the Blaze, if your reading this, the new mobile version of this site has to go. It‘s format is horrible and it doesn’t even function correctly.

    Report Post » El Pistoffo  
  • Diane TX
    Posted on August 24, 2011 at 2:07am

    What just happened? Did I step into bizarre-o world through a worm hole? BTW, why is Eric Holder still the Attorney General? He is a moron, and a racist, to boot.

    Report Post »  
  • RepubliCorp
    Posted on August 24, 2011 at 1:49am

    San Francisco–based 9th U.S. Circuit Court would tells us that illegals can vote Also,the Ninth Circuit has historically been overturned more than other circuit courts: “Over the past fifty years, the Ninth Circuit, the largest circuit court in the country, has been reversed by the U.S. Supreme Court an average of 10.78 times per term.

    Report Post » RepubliCorp  
  • Marnin
    Posted on August 24, 2011 at 1:49am

    obama doesnt even remember who he awards medals to, alive or dead, unless it is on the teleprompter, so what he thinks is irelevant. And while everyone is protected to speak their mind, even if it is something people don’t want to hear, it doesnt protect against libel/slander/fraud, and this is fraud pure and simple.

    Report Post »  
  • poverty.sucks
    Posted on August 24, 2011 at 1:41am

    Obama soon to award Medal for Courageous Restraint – restraint to acknowledge Jesus Christ, a Jew, King of all Kings. Who of all men in Israel to be awarded such a medal?

    Report Post » poverty.sucks  
  • BOMUSTGO
    Posted on August 24, 2011 at 1:22am

    As a Veteran, this is sick.Why make something like that up?

    Report Post » BOMUSTGO  
  • Ron_WA
    Posted on August 24, 2011 at 1:11am

    Just like Freedom of Speech does not allow one to cry “fire” in a crowded theater, it does not allow one to commit blatant, outlawed fraud for the purpose of individual gain.

    Report Post » Ron_WA  
  • JP4JOY
    Posted on August 24, 2011 at 1:05am

    How about just prosecuting civilly for FRAUD.

    Report Post » JP4JOY  
    • 82dAirborne
      Posted on August 24, 2011 at 1:18am

      Hows about I just take him to the V.F.W. and we talk about the error of his/her ways. Problem solved. (I promise.)

      Report Post » 82dAirborne  

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