It’s a big win for liars: You are now constitutionally allowed to lie about receiving a military medal.

The U.S. Supreme Court struck down the federal Stolen Valor Act that had made it a crime to lie about receiving military medals. The Court held that First Amendment free speech rights trumped integrity and honor when it came to such awards.

One year after the law passed, a California man, Xavier Alvarez, was elected to a local water board and introduced himself at a board meeting as a retired Marine who had received the Medal of Honor. It turned out that Alvarez had never received the medal and had never even served in the military. As a result, he was one of the first ones charged under the Stolen Valor Act, reports Reuters.

Alvarez pleaded guilty and paid a $5,000 fine, but later challenged the constitutionality of the law. With a 6-3 vote, the Supreme Court agreed with him. In the majority opinion, Justice Kennedy wrote, “The nation well knows that one of the costs of the First Amendment is that it protects the speech we detest as well as the speech we embrace,” reports Reuters.

So while lying about receiving a Medal of Honor may be “contemptible,” it is constitutionally protected free speech, as the Stolen Valor Act was struck down.

Related Resources:

  • ‘Stolen Valor’: Veterans upset with court ruling overturning lying law (The Associated Press)
  • Justice Kennedy Wants You to Fight Lies with Truth (FindLaw’s U.S. Supreme Court blog)
  • SCOTUS Overturns 10th Circuit on Stolen Valor Act (FindLaw’s U.S. 10th Circuit blog)

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