President Obama signed the Stolen Valor Act of 2013 making it a criminal offense to lie about military honors for economic gain. Congress passed the law after the Supreme Court ruled the Stolen Valor Act of 2005 was a violation of the First Amendment. (ACB News, June 3, by Lee Ferrin)
In 2012, the Supreme Court struck down the old law for being overbroad, both in ignoring whether the perpetrator was trying to profit from the deceit and for failing to differentiate between public and private discourse. Justice Kennedy wrote in his majority opinion, “The Act by its plain terms applies to a false statement made at any time, in any place, to any person. … [T]he sweeping, quite unprecedented reach of the statute puts it in conflict with the First Amendment. Here the lie was made in a public meeting, but the statute would apply with equal force to personal, whispered conversations within a home.” (ABC News, June 28, 2012, by Lee Ferrin)
Veterans are expressing their satisfaction with the new law as respecting the First Amendment while punishing those who use the pretense of military medals to scam the public. Some have used the pretense to gain Veterans Administration benefits of $280,000, reports an editorial in The Columbus Dispatch, June 5, 2013.
The federal government now has a website with the names of the military who are the legitimate recipients of military honors. -db