He lied about a medal he never received. Xavier Alvarez was charged under the “Stolen Valor” act. In the end it has been ruled unconstitutional to charge the man for the lie.
So it’s official. Lying is now enshrined under the hallowed protection of the US Constitution. There you go folks. It’s a right to lie.
But the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit begs to differ. In a decision released on Tuesday, the three-judge panel, based in San Francisco, declared the law unconstitutional because it infringed on the defendant’s freedom of speech, even if it was false. That defendant, Xavier Alvarez, had claimed to be a Marine and a winner of the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest military award. He was neither.
via Stolen Valor Act Is Declared Unconstitutional by Circuit Court – At War Blog – NYTimes.com.