Interesting thought, if a lie doesn’t hurt anyone else, is it protected under freedom of speech? According to the Stolen Valor Act people who lie about receiving a medal could be punished by as much as a year in prison. But where is the line?
The case centers around Xavier Alvarez, an elected member of the Pomona, CA local water board who claimed he had received the Congressional Medal of Honor despite never serving in the military. He was quickly discovered, ridiculed, and punished without doing any harm to anyone else.
“A false claim of receiving military honors “does diminish the medal in many respects,” Justice Anthony Kennedy said during the hour-long argument in Washington. Still, he and other justices suggested that upholding the law might broaden the kinds of lies the government could sanction, beyond matters like perjury and false statements to a federal agent.
“Where do you stop?” asked Chief Justice John Roberts. He asked how the stolen-valor law would differ from making it a crime to claim falsely to have earned a high school diploma, a matter that can be verified just as easily.
“What is the First Amendment value in a lie?” Roberts said later in the argument session. “
Read the full story over at Bloomberg News.
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