Did you earn the Medal of Honor, the highest military decoration? If not, feel free to wear it anyway and claim you were awarded the medal – activist judges say that is perfectly fine.

Wannabe veterans now have free reign to lie and claim military service and awards that they did not perform or receive thanks to two recent rulings by activist judges.  Two cases, one in Colorado and one in California, were the first to challenge the Stolen Valor Act, a 2006 law meant to protect the honor of our nation’s heroes. 

Many cases of civilians claiming military service or veterans claiming awards which they were not entitled to have come to light in recent years.  Some of these people used false claims for personal gain, often at the expense of those who truly earned the awards.  It was with this in mind that Congress passed the Stolen Valor Act which punishes violators with up to one year in prison.

The first case involved Rick Glen Strandlof.  Strandlof claimed to be an ex-Marine who won the Purple Heart and Silver Star – despite having never served a day in uniform in his life.  More than his claims, Strandlof launched the Colorado Veterans Alliance using it to advance his anti-war politics.  He was hailed as a hero by many left-leaning politicians desperately seeking veterans that supported them including Congressman Jared Polis – until his deceit was uncovered by suspecting veterans. 

Last month, U.S. District Judge Robert Blackburn dismissed the case saying that there wasn’t “a compelling reason to restrict that type of statement.” 

Can you say WTF?

This was followed by a ruling yesterday by the leftist 9^th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in California saying that it was perfectly okay for Xavier Alvarez of Pomona, CA to say he was a Medal of Honor winner.  Alvarez was a water district board member that claimed he won the nation’s highest award while serving in the Marines. 

Alavarez challenged the ruling based on the First Amendment’s protections of free speech.  The court, widely accepted as the most liberal in the nation, agreed.  As reported by the Associated Press:

A panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with him in a 2-1 decision Tuesday, agreeing that the law was a violation of his free-speech rights. The majority said there’s no evidence that such lies harm anybody, and there’s no compelling reason for the government to ban such lies.

The dissenting justice insisted that the majority refused to follow clear Supreme Court precedent that false statements of fact are not entitled to First Amendment protection.

These activist judges clearly are acting based on some demented interpretation of the United States Constitution.  Freedom of speech does not protect someone who commits an act of fraud which is exactly what these men were guilty of.  They willingly and knowingly portrayed themselves as something they are not for personal gain and they should be punished.

Chalk this one up as yet another case of activist judges stepping well outside the boundaries our Founding Fathers placed around them and all branches of government.

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