Stolen Valor: How do we punish the phony "Hero"?
Since the "Supreme Court" shot down the Stolen Valor Act, is there any real recourse to punish the sleazebag through our judicial system? I find it strange that you can go to jail for impersonating a police officer, soldier, or government official, but you don't get squat if you are a "PX Hero" sleazebag. Below is an except from Wikipedia--
United States v. Alvarez, 567 U.S. ___ (2012), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court struck down the Stolen Valor Act, a federal law that criminalized false statements about having a military medal. The law had been passed as an effort to stem instances where people falsely claimed to have won the medal in an attempt to protect the "valor" of those who really had. While a 6-3 majority of the Supreme Court agreed that the law was unconstitutional under the First Amendment's free speech protections, it could not agree on a single rationale. Four justices concluded that a statement's falsity is not enough, by itself, to exclude speech from First Amendment protection. Another two justices concluded that while false statements were entitled to some protection, the Stolen Valor Act was invalid because it could have achieved its objectives in less restrictive ways.
Reaction from the political community and from veteran organizations were negative. Several months after the decision, both chambers of Congress passed new versions of the Stolen Valor Act based on the suggestions in the Court's opinion. Despite the Supreme Court having struck down the conviction under the Act, Alvarez remained in prison for fraud on other matters.--- You notice he didn't get squat for the phony awards.
The awarding of the various medals was, however, most unusual, with LTC Gritz actively following the progress of each recommendation, and perhaps suggesting or even writing the recommendations himself. You can read about it here: http://www.miafacts.org/gritz.htm
There was a bill passed in 2013:
http://www.military.com/daily-news/2013/06/03/obama-signs-new-stolen-valor-act.html
Obama Signs New Stolen Valor Act
President Obama on Monday signed into law the latest version of the Stolen Valor Act.
Impersonating a police officer would violate a public trust issue of him acting in a role of 'emergency responder', so it would definitely be a no-no.
I feel your pain. Other than 'street justice' this wacko by publicly insulting him, recording and uploading a photo of him, there's not much more we can do here, sorry :-(
In 1942, the U.S. Supreme Court established the doctrine by a 9–0 decision in Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire. It held that "insulting or 'fighting words,' those that by their very utterance inflict injury or tend to incite an immediate breach of the peace" are among the "well-defined and narrowly limited classes of speech the prevention and punishment of [which] … have never been thought to raise any constitutional problem."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fighting_words
Fighting words - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Fighting words are written or spoken words, generally expressed to incite hatred or violence from their target. Specific definitions, freedoms, and limitations of fighting words vary by jurisdiction. It is also used in a general sense of words that when uttered tend to create (deliberately or not) a verbal or physical confrontation by their mere usage.
If he or she isn't wearing any of those specific medals...no violation.
Wearing one but only got a discounted Burger King meal...no violation.
Wearing several and got discounted meals all across town...no violation.
Wearing one of the specified medals and got subsidized health care as a result....violation.
Edited because I cannot read and combined two people's posts in my head...and formatting.
http://www.bogritz.com/biography.htm
The Bog Ritz | Living Large in the Bog
If you are one of those people that find it hard to fit a healthy diet into your fast paced world, juicing may be just the thing for you. With job, kids and