Supreme Court: Military lying not a crime
The Supreme Court struck down a law Thursday that made it a crime to lie about being a military hero.
In a 6-3 decision, the court said that lying about military valor doesn’t amount to stealing, as supporters of the law had said.Continue Reading
“That link hasn’t been shown,” said Justice Anthony Kennedy in the majority opinion. “The government points to no evidence supporting its claim that the public’s general perception of military awards is diluted by false claims such as those made by respondent. And it has not shown, and cannot show, why counterspeech, such as the ridicule respondent received online and in the press, would not suffice to achieve its interest.”
Military and veterans advocates argued that these lies amount to theft and harm the U.S. military and the service members who have legitimately earned their military decorations.
“We’re greatly disappointed,” said Joe White, spokesman for the Veterans for Foreign Wars. “We’re going to continue to challenge these far-fetched stories and publicize these false heroes.”
Free speech advocates applauded the court’s decision because they believe these kinds of lies aren’t criminal acts and are protected under the First Amendment.
“Today’s Supreme Court decision is a victory for free speech and common sense. At the core of the First Amendment is a promise that Americans can say whatever they want, without a government audit of truth or falsity,” said Ken Paulson, president and CEO of the First Amendment Center.
“There are already laws on the books to punish fraud for financial gain. This law was unnecessary and unconstitutional,” he said.
The court agreed.
“There are statutes that prohibit falsely representing that one is speaking on behalf of the Government, or prohibit impersonating a Government officer. These examples, to the extent that they implicate fraud or speech integral to criminal conduct, are inapplicable here,” Kennedy wrote in their decision.
Despite Thursday’s ruling, the fight over so-called “stolen valor” is not over.
There are bills in both the Senate and the House that would essentially reverse the court’s decision.
The Stolen Valor Act of 2011, introduced in the House by Rep. Joe Heck (R-Nev.) and in the Senate by Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.), would address the main sticking point of the law – how to punish people who lie about their military service.