Supreme Court to Take Up 'Stolen Valor Act'

Inigoes · Oct 17, 2011

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/201...-to-take-up-stolen-valor-act/?test=latestnews

http://www.scotusblog.com/2011/10/another-test-of-first-amendment/#more-129780

scrovak · Oct 17, 2011

Pardon my langueage but F**K California!!! You're goddamn right it's a crime. So many of our fine men and women of the armed services get left to the streets to fend for them selves with nothing to their name but the ability to say yes, they fought and served for their country. To allow anyone to take that away from them without penalty is a FLAGRANT disrespect to anyone and everyone who ever wore a uniform. Especially for that guy to claim he served and earned the Congressional Medal of Honor? Especially with the limited number of those who actually SURVIVE to be awarded the MOH?! Free speech be damned, I'd kick his ass all up and down that liberal goddamned commie state.

:mad54:

/rant

Trace Adkins - Fightin' Words
"Excuse me
First amendment?
Son, the first amendment protects you from the government
Not from me
You can say whatever you want to out there
You come within reach of me
I'll exercise my right to give you a good ol' country ass whoopin'
Is what I'll do for you
By God"

ohen cepel · Oct 17, 2011

For me it's sort of like burning the flag. Not sure it should be illegal, but I should also have the right to beat your a$$ if you do it!

Same thing here, every vet who crosses this maggots path should be able to beat him as they see fit. However, since that will not happen then it needs to be punished in other ways.

It's not like these guys are doing this to pick up a lady at the bar. They do it as part of a con to get things that they don't deserve nor earned. Posing as many other things are a crime so this should be also.

scrovak · Oct 17, 2011

ohen cepel said:
It's not like these guys are doing this to pick up a lady at the bar.

I had to restrain myself from beating some uppity, snarky PFC who claimed 6 diferent MOSs that I heard of, trying to talk to people and pick up women. Everything from battlefield forensic specialist, to scout sniper, to warlock antenna repairman, to C4ISR specialist, to EOD.

What I did do, though, is shame him out by calling him out on it over the mic since my friend was DJing.

G O B · Oct 17, 2011

So why isn't he guilty of fraud? Posers are the lowest form of slime.

EL1227 · Oct 17, 2011

Consider the (judicial) source ... CA 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San F'n Cisco. Those liberal left weenies couldn't hand down an appropriate decision if their lives depended on it, or on that of a REAL MoH recipient.

If you REALLY want to understand how these 'posers' affect TRUE heroes read Burkett's book, "Stolen Valor - How the Vietnam Generation Was Robbed of it's Heros and it History"

BigMBobbyOP · Oct 19, 2011

i woudln't hold it against any vet to hand out a beat down, but making it illegal to lie in a speech? dont you know the republican debates are happening? (too soon? haha)

but seriously - theres a difference between lying in general and fraud. this is like trying to make a law against people being a-holes. good idea, bad law.

scrovak · Oct 19, 2011

BigMBobbyOP said:
i woudln't hold it against any vet to hand out a beat down, but making it illegal to lie in a speech? dont you know the republican debates are happening? (too soon? haha)

but seriously - theres a difference between lying in general and fraud. this is like trying to make a law against people being a-holes. good idea, bad law.

Someone needs medical attention, and asks if there's a doctor in the house, and you falsely say yes and advise treatment...

QuebecoisWolf · Oct 19, 2011

scrovak said:
Someone needs medical attention, and asks if there's a doctor in the house, and you falsely say yes and advise treatment...

Apples to oranges. Claiming to be a veteran doesn't put anyone's health and safety in jeopardy. Your example does.

The exception would be in an emergency where, depending upon what you did, you'd be covered under the Good Sanitarium Law - if the state has one.

jashu360 · Oct 19, 2011

while i disagree with this guy and think he is a piece of shit i dont think it should be law to prevent him from doing it. people always claim freedom of speach but dont like it when its something they dont want to hear. if they make it law and restrict 1A then that setsd the bar to do it to other amendments

Inigoes · Oct 19, 2011

jashu360 said:
while i disagree with this guy and think he is a piece of shit i dont think it should be law to prevent him from doing it. people always claim freedom of speach but dont like it when its something they dont want to hear. if they make it law and restrict 1A then that setsd the bar to do it to other amendments

1A doesn't protect deception, slander, defamation...

BondJamesBond · Oct 19, 2011

Pretty much a slam dunk in favor of the 1st amendment. I can't see why SCOTUS would waste their time. As a kid, I could go into Sunny's Surplus and buy sergeants stripes and sew them on my clothes. Not a crime. Medals are the same thing.

Generic_human · Oct 19, 2011

I am conflicted about this issue... as a veteran, I despise him and what he did, and I think the wearing of medals should be a privilege, but I can see the other side of the issue.... if you want to wear rank/medals for some stupid reason like a fashion statement or costume, that's fine by me, but for someone to represent themselves as a veteran, especially in a professional setting, is entirely offensive and it cheapens the courage and sacrifice of those who truly served.

I want to kick that guy in the crotch so hard that his balls fly out of his mouth.

scrovak · Oct 19, 2011

QuebecoisWolf said:
Apples to oranges. Claiming to be a veteran doesn't put anyone's health and safety in jeopardy. Your example does.

The exception would be in an emergency where, depending upon what you did, you'd be covered under the Good Sanitarium Law - if the state has one.

What about the 'vet' who's claims, believed by most, were so false and fantastic that he he ended up getting hundreds of thousands of dollars from the gov't for speaking as an advisor to schools, gov't agencies, even our own APG about special tactics, etc. This information was later described not only as false, but could potentially endanger the lives of anyone who followed it?

ToneGrail · Oct 19, 2011

I had a panhandler claim to be a homeless veteran. So I started probing him for information such as his alphanumeric MOS code, pay grade, where he attended basic training, etc. Needless to say, he had no clue and moved on to the next sucker.

Streetgang · Oct 19, 2011

This is NOT Freedom of speech. Its fraud. Freedom of speech as laid out in the constitution and as outlined in the Federalist Papers is not there so you can lie and get away with it. It's there to protect free speech not fraudulent speech by some lunatic trying to pick up girls in a bar or get a better job.
Bond, when you were a kid doing this, you weren't claiming to be a seargent in the Army to get special recognition you didn't earn. That was children playing.
Scrovaks analogy is spot on. I've seen SEAL, SF And SWCC imposters get jobs from these claims, no different than someone claiming to be a doctor, pilot, or any other profession. It's fraud plain and simple.

I ran into one this weekend. I wanted to knock the crap out of him. Instead I just embarrassed him in front of the crowd we were surrounded by.

Speaker2Wolves · Mar 24, 2012

Streetgang said:
I've seen SEAL, SF And SWCC imposters get jobs from these claims, no different than someone claiming to be a doctor, pilot, or any other profession. It's fraud plain and simple.

I'm not a lawyer, but even I know that nothing regarding the law is "plain and simple."

I believe that for it to be fraud, there has to be harm, or at least the threat of harm. So bragging in a bar isn't fraud. Bragging in a bar to collect free drinks? Maybe. Claiming to be a war hero to con veterans out of investment funds or charitable donations? More than likely.

Just as it takes more than just claiming to be a doctor, or a LEO, or an attorney to be a criminal act, claiming to be a decorated vet is not (in and of itself) fraud.

Supreme Court to Take Up 'Stolen Valor Act'

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