You may have missed this Supreme Court ruling.
June 30th, 2012 by John MorrisI served four years in the Army Security Agency. I did only enough to get a small number of medals, but I am proud of them. None of them are for valor and can best described as “participation awards”. My time in Vietnam got me two. The good conduct medal I refused to accept followed me into civilian life. It came because I didn’t screw anything up that couldn’t be fixed.
The Stolen Valor Act was a law enacted to punish anyone who took credit for awards not earned or actions not attended. They would face big fines and prison for their duplicity. A little balance was restored to our nation. It was working quite well until the lying posers claimed their lies are protected by the U.S. Constitution. So of course, they took their case to the U.S. Supreme Court.
This week, the highest court in our land sided with the liars citing a constitutional “right to lie”. This is a slap at any Veteran who did the heavy lifting that comes with war. This ruling says any talented liar can bask in the glory earned by others at great cost.
Veterans will continue to be on the outlook for braggarts without credentials. It saddens me we will now have no recourse to punish those who chose to steal our valor to boost their own pathetic lives.
http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/06/28/2873191/supreme-court-rejects-stolen-valor.html