- Joined
- Feb 2, 2008
- Messages
- 3,059
I dunno- it is for sure shameful and the people who engage in this are pathetic, but I kind of agree with this writer - why should this category be illegal while virtually every other category of lying be protected speech?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opini...rime/2012/02/16/gIQAhpNFKR_story.html?hpid=z2
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opini...rime/2012/02/16/gIQAhpNFKR_story.html?hpid=z2
..."The Stolen Valor Act criminalizes what many view as a common human impulse. When the issue was raised before the federal appeals court, Chief Judge Alex Kozinski balked at the notion that lies can be crimes in a society saturated by untruths. “Saints,” he noted, “may always tell the truth, but for mortals living means lying.” Kozinski is supported by a host of studies on the human propensity, even necessity, to lie. This tendency to shape the truth can combine with a certain human inclination toward fantasy.
While common, lies have limits. The dividing line in the law has always been fraud or related crimes — using lies to gain money or benefits. When someone lies about their military service or makes other claims, such as an incurable illness, to enrich themselves, it is a crime. It is not the lie but the larceny that is being prosecuted. But the Stolen Valor Act was designed to address cases in which the individual is not deriving financial gain or other benefits; rather, the law punishes the boast or the brag itself.
Faux warriors tend to be liars who take the added step of merging their fantasy lives with their actual lives..."