Things are heating up today as the Supreme Court discusses the Stolen Valor Act, most specifically as it pertains to one Xavier Alvarez of Pomona, California. Xavier was a braggart, and in July 2007, he made the mistake of bragging his way into a federal crime at a local water district meeting.
“I’m a retired Marine of 25 years,” he said. “I retired in the year 2001. Back in 1987, I was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. I got wounded many times by the same guy. I’m still around.”
Mr. Alvarez was lying. He was never in the military, he had never been wounded in combat, and — most relevant to the matter at hand — he had never been awarded the Medal of Honor.
As he soon found out when the Federal Bureau of Investigation arrived, he had violated the Stolen Valor Act of 2005, a law enacted in 2006 that makes it a federal crime to falsely claim to have been awarded a military medal, punishable by up to a year in prison.
The Supreme Court will be deciding whether the Stolen Valor Act is unconstitutional – whether lying about one’s honors earned is a protected freedom of speech, or whether it is a damaging behavior that should be punished and forbidden. It will be interesting to see what develops as a result. Either way, though, our advice to you is to be honest about your military record – whether lying is protected by law or not, honesty keeps you out of trouble.
