A man who was arrested for claiming to be a veteran got his walking papers from a federal judge last week who claimed the Stolen Valor Act unconstitutional.
District Court Judge Robert Blackburn ruled that the law, meant to keep individuals from boasting unearned service medals, is an infringement of the First Amendment, according to the Huffington Post.
“This wholly unsubstantiated assertion is, frankly, shocking and, indeed, unintentionally insulting to the profound sacrifices of military personnel the Stolen Valor Act purports to honor,” Blackburn wrote as reported in the Denver Post. “To suggest that the battlefield heroism of our servicemen and women is motivated in any way, let alone in a compelling way, by considerations of whether a medal may be awarded simply defies my comprehension.”
Rick Strandlof was arrested in 2009 after claims of being a wounded, three-tour Iraq veteran who was a captain in the Marine Corps were found to be fraudulent. Strandlof also claimed to be a recipient of both the Purple Heart and Silver Star, a graduate of the Naval Academy and survivor of the attack on the Pentagon in 2001. Records show that Strandlof never served in the military or attended the academy.
Prior to his arrest, Strandlof had helped form a veterans rights organization, fought for homeless vets in Colorado Springs and sent care packages to troops, according to the Post.
In January, the post reported that the Rutherford Institute filed a friend of the court brief challenging the constitutional validity of the law. John Whitehead, president of the Virgina-based civil liberties group told the Post that people shouldn’t be prosecuted for “simply telling lies.”
“If you run around Denver and yell out, ‘I got the Medal of Honor,’ you are guilty of the statute the way it is written,” Whitehead said.
Apparently Judge Blackburn agrees.
But some First Amendment advocates think the judge’s interpretation is off.
“Ordinary lies are clearly protected speech, but claims that cross the line into impersonation/fraud lose their First Amendment shield, said Corey Friedman, journalist and co-founder of the Independent Register. “The intent and effect of the lie would have to be determined on a case-by-case basis in order to make the Stolen Valor Act constitutional.”
Friedman added, “Pretending to be a decorated soldier to pick up women at a singles bar? Shameless, perhaps, but legal. Pretending to be a Purple Heart winner who helped save a real servicemember’s life in Afghanistan in order to land lucrative book deals and speaking engagements? That’s no longer free speech, it’s textbook fraud.”
The law is also being challenged in Californina and may soon be challenged here in North Carolina. Michael Halmiton posed as a retired Colonel while speaking at an event honoring those who served in Vietnam back in April in Jacksonville.
indieregister.wordpress.com 
The ignorance of Judge Robert Blackburn and John Whitehead is incredulous. They are asserting that the first amendment gives people the right to lie. Mr. Whitehead, a “simple lie” on a job application is called “fraud” and has always been illegal. Under your pretense, nobody would have to go to college, as they could simply claim to be a Harvard graduate on their job applications. And to Judge Blackburn, if you extend your false logic, then nobody could ever be found guilty of perjury. You’re an embarrassment to the bench.