Supreme Court To Rule On Right To Lie About Military Honors

Supreme Court To Rule On Right To Lie About Military Honors, Xavier Alvarez told of playing hockey for the Detroit Red Wings, marrying a Mexican starlet, piloting a helicopter in Vietnam and suffering gunshot wounds while rescuing the U.S. ambassador during the Iran hostage crisis. All were lies.

He got into legal trouble, however, when he stood up in 2007 at a water board meeting in Pomona, Calif., and described himself as a retired Marine who had received the Medal of Honor. He joined a number of men who lie about their military service and claim medals they did not win.

More than one-third of “Who’s Who” profiles that listed top military honors could not be confirmed through military records, a Chicago Tribune investigation found in 2008.

The Supreme Court will take up Mr. Alvarez’s case Wednesday to decide whether the First Amendment protects not just the freedom of speech, but also a right to lie about military honors.

Congress enacted the Stolen Valor Act in 2006 to make it a crime to falsely claim a military honor. And Mr. Alvarez, once he was exposed, was convicted and fined $5,000.

But his “everyone lies” defense won at the 9th U.S. Circuit of Appeals in San Francisco, which struck down the law on free speech grounds by a 2-1 vote. It would be “terrifying,” Chief Judge Alex Kozinski said, if the government’s “truth police” could go after people for the “white lies, exaggerations and deceptions that are an integral part of human intercourse.”

The Supreme Court is less likely to extend leniency to people who claim credit for honors they did not win. The justices have not ruled before that “knowingly false” statements are protected by the First Amendment.

And government lawyers point out that it was already a crime to lie to a federal agent or to make deliberately false statements on government forms. Moreover, the First Amendment does not shield anyone from being sued for telling malicious lies about another person or for getting money by making fraudulent promises.

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