From the National Journal:
The 2005 version of the Stolen Valor law made it illegal to lie about military service, regardless of intent. If you were trying to pick up a girl, or apply for a job, or score a free drink at a bar, it could be a criminal act. The Supreme Court, however, saw this as a violation of the freedom of speech.
“Were the Court to hold that the interest in truthful discourse alone is sufficient to sustain a ban on speech, absent any evidence that the speech was used to gain a material advantage, it would give government a broad censorial power unprecedented in this Court’s cases or in our constitutional tradition,” Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote [emphasis is mine] at the time.
Heck saw room in the Court’s reading to propose an updated version of the law, one that included a line about “material advantage” so it could pass constitutional muster. While he doesn’t see lying to get a free drink at a bar as a criminal act, clearly most members in the House agree with him on the new law’s language.
Last September, the House passed his version by a vote of 410-3. It never went anywhere in the Senate. But now, a version introduced by Sens. Jon Tester, D-Mont., and Dean Heller, R-Nev is circulating through the Senate.
But why, exactly is this law even necessary? Free-speech advocates, such as the American Civil Liberties Union, have said the law is a waste of legislators' time.
“Now, there’s really no reason to act here at all,” ACLU legislative counsel Gabe Rottman wrote. “Fraud — including fraud respecting the receipt of military decorations — is already illegal under federal and state law, meaning the bill’s unnecessary.”
