Post by jerryfmcompushaft on Sept 4, 2012 12:06:37 GMT -5
While the Supreme Court upheld the right to lie under the first amendment, there are consequences if you take it one step further.
TAMPA -- Although the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the Stolen Valor Act, authorities still have ways to prosecute many of the people who pretend to have been awarded military honors.
Take the case of Danny Russell Crane, a 31-year-old Riverview man who authorities say lied about receiving a Distinguished Flying Cross, two Purple Hearts and an Air Medal. In reality, Crane was discharged from the Army after serving less than three months.
But under a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in June, Crane's lies, by themselves, are protected by the First Amendment.
"The nation well knows that one of the costs of the First Amendment is that it protects the speech we detest as well as the speech we embrace," the court wrote.
Yet lying to the federal government in an official matter is a crime, as is seeking undeserved government benefits.
A federal indictment handed up recently charges Crane with doing both. The indictment was handed up weeks after the Supreme Court ruled the Stolen Valor Act was unconstitutional.
Now Crane is in the Pinellas County Jail, charged with stealing medical benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs and making false statements on his application for disability benefits. Both charges carry more serious penalties -- 10 and five years in prison -- than the Stolen Valor Act, which could land a person in prison for a year, at most.
More here
TAMPA -- Although the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the Stolen Valor Act, authorities still have ways to prosecute many of the people who pretend to have been awarded military honors.
Take the case of Danny Russell Crane, a 31-year-old Riverview man who authorities say lied about receiving a Distinguished Flying Cross, two Purple Hearts and an Air Medal. In reality, Crane was discharged from the Army after serving less than three months.
But under a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in June, Crane's lies, by themselves, are protected by the First Amendment.
"The nation well knows that one of the costs of the First Amendment is that it protects the speech we detest as well as the speech we embrace," the court wrote.
Yet lying to the federal government in an official matter is a crime, as is seeking undeserved government benefits.
A federal indictment handed up recently charges Crane with doing both. The indictment was handed up weeks after the Supreme Court ruled the Stolen Valor Act was unconstitutional.
Now Crane is in the Pinellas County Jail, charged with stealing medical benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs and making false statements on his application for disability benefits. Both charges carry more serious penalties -- 10 and five years in prison -- than the Stolen Valor Act, which could land a person in prison for a year, at most.
More here
