SCOTUS strikes down Stolen Valor Act
By Tom Curry, msnbc.com National Affairs Writer
The Supreme Court on Thursday struck down a federal law called the Stolen Valor Act which prohibits a person from falsely claiming that he has been awarded a military honor.
The case involved Xavier Alvarez who was an elected member of the Three Valleys Municipal Water District Board in Pomona, California. In 2007 Alvarez said at a public water district board meeting that he was a retired Marine, had been “wounded many times,” and had been “awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor” in 1987.
In fact, he had never served in the United States armed forces.
He pleaded guilty to violating the Stolen Valor Act, but claimed that his false statements were protected by the First Amendment right of free speech.
http://nbcpolitics.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/06/28/12457855-scotus-strikes-down-stolen-valor-act?lite
- -
| 