Noteboom The Law Firm

Stolen Valor Act Found Unconstitutional

August 20, 2010 - Under The Stolen Valor Act, it is illegal to claim to have received any medal from the military if that medal has not actually been received. The Act reinforced and hardened an existing law disallowing the wearing of an unearned military medal. The Act was given unanimous approval in the Senate and easily passed through Congress in 2006. The Stolen Valor Act however, was found unconstitutional last week by a California appeals court. 

Xavier Alvarez, of Pomona, California, claimed to not only have been a retired Marine, but he received the highest possible military medal, the Medal of Honor. As his claims were not true, he was indicted in 2007 under the Stolen Valor Act. His guilty plea was made with the caveat he would be allowed to appeal his case based on the First Amendment. Alvarez was eventually sentenced to over 400 hours of community service to be completed at a veteran's hospital and fined $5,000.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with Alvarez's arguments and agreed The Stolen Valor Act violates First Amendment Rights to free speech. The majority found no evidence of harm done to any person by these lies. Further, they found no grounds for the government to legitimately ban people from telling these lies. The single justice dissenting from the opinion argued U.S. Supreme Court precedent holds false statements are not protected by the First Amendment.

Many people have been arrested since the Act was originally passed; some profited from the lies and some did not. Almost every offender ended up being ordered to perform community service; usually helping veterans in some capacity. The decision to appeal the court's decision is up to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Los Angeles and they have not made a commitment either way to date.