The Supreme Court will rule on whether lying about receiving medals for military medals is constitutionally protected free speech. The case is USA v. Xavier Alvarez:
The Supreme Court will decide whether a law making it a crime to lie about having received military medals is constitutional.
The justices said Monday they will consider
the validity of the Stolen Valor Act, which passed Congress with
overwhelming support in 2006. The federal appeals court in California
struck down the law on free speech grounds and another appeals court in
Colorado is considering a separate case.
The Obama administration is arguing that the law is reasonable because it only applies to instances in which the speaker intends to portray himself as a medal recipient. Previous high court rulings also have limited First Amendment protection for false statements.
- Wikipedia: Stolen Valor Act.
- ScotusBlog: Another test of the First Amendment.
- Scotus Blog: United States v. Alvarez.
