Wearing unearned military medals is free speech

[Dan Daly]

The only thing that counts to me is what I actually did to pull at least my own weight when I served...all the bling they hung on me means nothing, most of it was BS anyway. If some dipstick wants to run around pretending they're Chesty freakin Puller...I may give a sht or I may not, depending on my mood at the time. If they get their butt kicked for doing so, it's just karma...but in the grand scheme of things, bling and those who feel the need to parade around in it...earned or not...isn't high on my list of give-a-sht.

 

[alpine]

It may not be a crime, but it sure is LAME.

What a low life you got to be to wear some medal you have NOT EARNED...

 

[martybegan]

As much as I find those valor stealing clowns to be repugnant, I think the court made the correct ruling. Now if you attempt to use that fraud to make money than that is a whole different fox hunt.

and most of these idiots do try to get some material gain out of it.

 

[Dan Daly]

It may not be a crime, but it sure is LAME.

What a low life you got to be to wear some medal you have NOT EARNED...

If I got my panties in a bunch over every low-life I've come across in my life, I woulda had a stroke before I was 30. Fk em all, they ain't worth my limited brain time.

 

[Camp]

The Stolen Valor Act is still enforceable if the person wearing such medals so much as gets a discount on a cup of coffee. Mostly the Stolen Valor game is played to receive more significant benefits such as travel upgrades and discounts at retail outlets. The travel upgrades are particularly disturbing because genuine active duty personnel and veterans are prevented from getting the benefit because it is being used by a fake, i.e., a fake may be taking an upgraded 1rst class seat instead of an active service member returning home from deployment.

 

[JustAnotherNut]

I agree this is BS and shouldn't be allowed. It is fraud and fraud is illegal. If you can be arrested AND convicted of impersonating an officer/cop, you should also be arrested & convicted of impersonating military. Impersonating is the same as defrauding and neither is protected under the constitution.

Its lying. Fraud requires injury on the party being deceived. And being offended isn't 'injury'.

If they lied to say, get military benefits....that's fraud.

If they lied because they want to pretend they were a soldier....that's being an asshole.

I agree being an asshole isn't a crime.......but impersonating an officer (military or police) IS a crime and in doing so, that asshole is defrauding others into believing his unearned status and for what reason? To gain unearned respect &/or sympathy for something he has taken no part in? WTF? and don't tell me people can wear whatever they want as long as they aren't benefitting from it or abusing it's power over someone else to commit further crimes.
Please DO tell me just what 'speech' here is being protected under said constitution? I'm not being bitchy or snarky, just very frustrated as to how low people choose to pervert the laws. This is worse than despicable, not just those 'fighting for their rights to be an asshole', but those that let them.

 

[Damaged Eagle]

If that's how the court feels about advertising...

I'm going to buy some old dishwashers that don't work, then fill them full of dishtowels and a bucket for water, and sell them on E-Bay advertising them as the most reliable dish washing system around just requires water for $200 a shot with shipping.

No false advertising. They got a reliable dishwashing system... Just like that guy/gal could someday be a hero if he/she joins the military.

Otherwise displaying unearned United States military uniform items should be considered false advertising and should be illegal.

*****CHUCKLE*****

 

[JustAnotherNut]

The Stolen Valor Act is still enforceable if the person wearing such medals so much as gets a discount on a cup of coffee. Mostly the Stolen Valor game is played to receive more significant benefits such as travel upgrades and discounts at retail outlets. The travel upgrades are particularly disturbing because genuine active duty personnel and veterans are prevented from getting the benefit because it is being used by a fake, i.e., a fake may be taking an upgraded 1rst class seat instead of an active service member returning home from deployment.

Only problem here I see is how many discounts on his coffee & underwear, or given front row seats before he gets caught?

 

[JustAnotherNut]

As much as I find those valor stealing clowns to be repugnant, I think the court made the correct ruling. Now if you attempt to use that fraud to make money than that is a whole different fox hunt.

and most of these idiots do try to get some material gain out of it.

For what other purpose would they fight to get the right to do so, if not to benefit in some way?

 

[Camp]

The Stolen Valor Act is still enforceable if the person wearing such medals so much as gets a discount on a cup of coffee. Mostly the Stolen Valor game is played to receive more significant benefits such as travel upgrades and discounts at retail outlets. The travel upgrades are particularly disturbing because genuine active duty personnel and veterans are prevented from getting the benefit because it is being used by a fake, i.e., a fake may be taking an upgraded 1rst class seat instead of an active service member returning home from deployment.

Only problem here I see is how many discounts on his coffee & underwear, or given front row seats before he gets caught?

The first class travel is the one that pisses me off. A guy coming home from a deployment misses a chance for a special appreciation from the airline that includes a super comfortable seat, an above average meal, perhaps champagne or a fine wine, etc. Instead, it goes to a fake.

 

[dannyboys]

Every time this issue comes up the first person that comes to mind is the fucking traitor phony poser John Kerry. He was in VN for about 90 days and awarded himself the Silver Star.
The man is a walking piece of shit AND the man Obama sent to Iran to give Iran whatever they wanted if they'd only stop building nuclear bombs. The Ayatollah based laughed in Kerry's face and used the bullshit agreement as ass wipe before Kerry even got to the fucking plane to fly home to the fucking mental case drug addled "Pickle Lady'.

 

[dannyboys]

 

[Sunni Man]

Every time this issue comes up the first person that comes to mind is the fucking traitor phony poser John Kerry. He was in VN for about 90 days and awarded himself the Silver Star.

Incorrect bozo

Silver Star recommendations must go thru the soldiers chain-of-command. .......

 

[dannyboys]

 

[baileyn45]

Wearing the medals shouldn't be a crime. A good reason for a serious ass whoopin but not a crime.

 

[martybegan]

As much as I find those valor stealing clowns to be repugnant, I think the court made the correct ruling. Now if you attempt to use that fraud to make money than that is a whole different fox hunt.

and most of these idiots do try to get some material gain out of it.

For what other purpose would they fight to get the right to do so, if not to benefit in some way?

Some of them might do it for the moral high ground, which based on this decision is legal.

 

[Blackrook]

The problem in making it illegal to wear medals you haven't earned is that such a law would apply to actors in a movie or TV show about the military.

 

[Seawytch]

This ruling is consistent with previous rulings...

“such speech cannot be restricted simply because it is upsetting or arouses contempt.”

Snyder v Phelps

 

[ClosedCaption]

The court made the correct ruling.

What you can go after is their use of the false medals to somehow make money. If they get a material benefit from the fake medals, that's fraud.

You ever watch any of the Stolen Valor videos? A bunch of losers pretending to be someone, it's sad and pathetic. Best one out there is the one where a fraud ran into an Airborne Ranger, the Ranger literally bitch slapped the fraud.

You have no argument that isnt emotional

 

[theHawk]

There are few things lower than doing this and Stolen Valor. If you never walked the walk do NOT pretend you have.

Court: Wearing unearned military medal is protected by Constitution

SAN FRANCISCO (Tribune News Service) — A federal law that prohibited people from wearing military medals they didn’t earn is unconstitutional for the same reason as a law that made it a crime to lie about earning a medal, a federal appeals court ruled Monday: It’s a falsehood that is protected by freedom of speech.
In an 8-3 ruling, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco said the now-repealed law against wearing unearned military decorations was a ban on a type of “symbolic speech.” Although the government can forbid falsehoods that cause tangible harm, like fraud or perjury, the Constitution restricts government regulation of expression based solely on its content, the court said.
“Suppressing a symbolic communication threatens the same First Amendment harm as suppressing a written communication,” Judge Sandra Ikuta said in the majority opinion. “Wearing a medal has no purpose other than to communicate a message.”

[FONT=Georgia, Times, Times New Roman, serif]Court: Wearing unearned military medal is protected by Constitution[/FONT]

As long as they can't wear a military uniform, it doesn't really bother me. As far as I know, it's illegal to pretend to be military or police by wearing their uniforms. If people are wearing medals while protesting or something while wearing other clothes, then they would just look like idiots and get laughed at.