I’ll be the first to admit that the Stolen Valor Act was poorly written and too broad in that it infringes on our 1st Amendment rights as American citizens. Personally, I’d rather have a slew of scum bag military posers than continue to see our Constitutional rights withered away by career policy makers in Washington.  Patriot Act and loss of privacy anyone?

As much as I’m angered by the loser parade of Stolen Valor posers, I’ll take my freedom to speak over government moderation and interference. Makes me wonder what the Duke would say…

Supreme Court Strikes Down Stolen Valor Act

From The LA Times

The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision Thursday striking down the Stolen Valor Act says the 1st Amendment “protects the speech we detest as well as the speech we embrace,” according to Justice Anthony M. Kennedy.

By a 6-3 decision, the high court said the right to lie about medals and military service, while “contemptible” and worthy of outrage and ridicule, is protected by the 1st Amendment.

To allow the government to outlaw certain speech because it is based on false statements would invite a Ministry of Truth as written about by George Orwell in his novel “1984” about totalitarianism, Kennedy said.

The decision came in the case of Xavier Alvarez, a former member of the Three Valleys Municipal Water District governing board in eastern Los Angeles County.

At his first meeting, Alvarez had claimed he was a former Marine and recipient of the Medal of Honor; in fact, he had never served in the military. After being charged, he resigned from the board.

Kennedy, speaking for the majority, said that Alvarez’s lies “were but a pathetic attempt to gain respect that eluded him. The statements do not seem to have been made to secure employment or financial benefits or admission to privileges reserved for those who had earned the medal.”

Read the rest here.