Is the Stolen Valor Act constitutional? 10th circuit says such lies are not protected 1st amendment

[The Straight Story]

10th Circuit Adds Fuel to Stolen Valor Act Debate

(CN) - With the Supreme Court set to determine the constitutionality of the Stolen Valor Act, which criminalizes lies about military honors, the 10th Circuit said that such lies are not protected by the First Amendment.

The 43-page majority decision reverses the finding of a federal judge in Colorado. It also creates a split circuit since a federal appeals panel in Pasadena, Calif., said that the U.S. Constitution protects "all speech, including false statements."

In July 2010, as the 9th Circuit was primed to strike down part of the Stolen Valor Act as unconstitutional, U.S. District Judge Robert Blackburn in Denver reached the same conclusion and dismissed a pending criminal indictment.

...
Last week, a three-judge appellate panel said the charges should stand because the Stolen Valor Act is sound.

"Utterances criminalized by the Act are objective and verifiable, and they are particularly valueless under First Amendment principles," Judge Timothy Tymkovich wrote for the majority. "Although military affairs are undoubtedly matters of public importance, lying about receiving military medals does nothing to contribute to any conceivable public debate. The Stolen Valor Act simply does not punish political speech, factually correct statements, artistic expressions, or opinions of any sort."

http://www.courthousenews.com/2012/02/02/43583.htm

[xchrom]

1. Du rec. Nt

[MattBaggins]

2. So I can say that I killed an entire Iraqi platoon with nothing but my boot blouser

I just can't claim I got the Medal of Valor for doing it?

[nadinbrzezinski]

3. Problem s that this is no just lying about the medal

Some (many) of these folks take advantage and at times commit fraud.

Oh and I forgot, claiming the CMH was criminalized from early on since it includes quite a bit of benefits.

[TheWraith]

4. Well, duh.

Really, you have to not have much of a grounding in law to believe that the first amendment protects your ability to say ANYTHING, any more than the second amendment allows you to possess nerve gas.

[jody]

5. I support Stolen Valor Act iff every politician is prosecuted for lying when answering all questions

IMO that would place most of the 545 elected politicians in D.C. in great risk of prosecution.

[unblock]

6. great example of criminalizing non-crimes instead of solving problems

set up an official registry (assuming one doesn't exist already) so that anyone can easily verify who received what military honors. this is (or should be) all a matter of public record.

once this is done, there's no real problem.

but that would involve hiring a few government workers, which would be socialist, so hey, lock 'em up instead.