Is it a crime to wear medals/ribbons that you have not earned?

No it is not a crime. There was an attempt to make Stolen Valor a crime under the Stolen Valor Act signed in late 2006. The law was pretty quickly overturned by the Supreme Court in 2012 under United States v. Alvarez. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Alvarez

I interpret the court's position as a desire not to persecute people because of what symbols they wear on their clothes, or to begin convicting people for lying, since lying is not a crime (and probably not the road we want to go down as a free society). As disgusting as Stolen Valor acts are, we still live in a free country. It's important to note that if somebody commits fraud with Stolen Valor then that is still a crime, since fraud is still a crime.

One argument some people have made is that one cannot impersonate a police officer, so the same should apply to military. This is only partly accurate, since police officers actually have authority over others while veterans do not. So a police officer can go to a person and detain them, tell them to go somewhere, to come somewhere, or to put them in handcuffs and in the back of their car and drive them off. Therefore if somebody impersonated a police officer it could lead to wrongful detention, not to mention making it harder for cops to do their jobs. This is not the same as somebody going around telling false war stories.

Please bear in mind, it IS still a violation of the UCMJ...

Not a crime, no but morally wrong....yes.

It's not a crime, it's just sad.

I've run into these fakes a few times. It only takes a minute to see through them. Some tried to enlist and were disqualified. Some wish they were one of us and are even enamored with those of us who served. It's is their attempt to belong to something that they can never belong to, but long to belong to.

I say to them, "I wish you could have served for real, that you could have actually been in the military, been part of us ... but you didn't. Take off all this stuff and put on a 'thank a vet' hat ... we'll respect you and even stand by you at the bar." Sometimes I'll say stop pretending and start appreciating. If none of this works then I get the attention of the crowd and expose him right then and there.

I remind myself that there was a time when I was ready and willing to die to protect this very man ... so is it much of a leap to give him a few moments to consider what he is doing? It's not weak to respond the way I do ... and it's more effective in the long run.

These two probably going to have an "NCO CALL" to speak to their fellow fakers and break the news.

It is also my right to shame these lying sacks of crap in public.

It is a crime. When the Supreme Court overturned the first stolen valor law in 2006 they told the Congress how to fix it so it passes constitutional muster. If you wear awards and decorations to which you are not entitled and benefit tangibly due to the falsification you can be prosecuted. For example here in Oklahoma City we have an individual who was a 42 Alpha clerk with the 82nd airborne. He falsified his DD 214 on his way out the door. It is been a nightmare catching this guy but he is received over $30,000 in free legal aid based online about a Purple Heart and bronze Star he is received a free all expense paid trip to Las Vegas from a charity etc. So, you can wear them - you can walk outside your house right now wearing a Medal of Honor and nothing can happen to you. The very second you receive something of value as a result of lying about the awards you will go to jail. Or 42A clerk who claims a CIB, BSM, PHM was investigated by CID A gets assigned to the VA IG. I was notified that his case has been referred to the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, The Human Resources Command, and The VA regional office in Muskogee for action.

It may not be a crime. But it is a major insult to those us that have earned the honor of the award. I would suspect that many of these people are the same flakes that greeted us with anything but respect when we returned from Nam.

No, unfortunately it is not against the law unless they gain some type of monetary gain from it.
I have worked with the Stolen Valor community for a few years now and can tell you that maybe 1 out of 50 is actually brought to justice, even after defrauding the government and the public for many thousands of dollars. We worked hard to get the 2006 Stolen Valor act passed only to have nitwit judges, who are allowed more power than they are suppose to have, to overturn that, but are still working on getting the 2012 decision overturned.
Unfortunately it takes years and hard work by many to bring the ones who are guilty of actual fraud to justice, that's IF they are brought to justice.
What everyone can do, however, is shame these posers, once you are positive they are posers, in front of everyone; this sometimes works and sometimes just makes them do it more as they are attention seekers. Of course, there are many variables to this as well though.
It's not always someone who never served, and is more often someone who embellishes on his or her military service. I still do not understand why those who did serve their country cannot just be proud of that instead of lying about it instead. Every job in the military is just as important as the other and they all rely on one another, from the cook or company clerk to the Special Forces and everything in between.
Yea, this is a very sore subject with me as well!

A current uniform and medals in my opinion would be the same as impersonating a police officer. Just wearing medals isn't a problem, it becomes a problem when you claim that you earned them for monetary gain. Let's face it, we can tell who a poser is within a few seconds or minutes.