Meeting en banc the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals upheld the First Amendment right of an ex-Marine to wear a Purple Heart and Silver Star he was never awarded. The court ruled that to punish Elvin Swisher for wearing the medals was to punish him for lying. (Courthouse News Service, January 11, 2016, by Jack Bouboushian)
The court ruled 8-3 that falsehoods are protected speech. “Suppressing a symbolic communication threatens the same First Amendment harm as suppressing a written communication. Wearing a medal has no purpose other than to communicate a message,” wrote Judge Sandra Ikuta for the majority. (San Francisco Chronicle, January 11, 2016, by Bob Egelko)
One Comment
Amazing how the appeals court rules that lying is free speech. Maybe I missed something? Last time I checked, lying to cop is a crime. I will have read the Court House article later when I am not so tired.
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