There are fewer than ninety people alive who have received the Medal of Honor. Someone apparently suspected Mr. Alvarez was lying about being one of them. The Federal Bureau of Investigation was given a recording of the water board meeting. The FBI investigated and found that Alvarez had not earned
any
medals, let alone the Medal of Honor. He soon became one of the first people charged with violating the Stolen Valor Act.
He admitted guilt in court with the understanding that he would appeal the ruling. He was fined five thousand dollars and ordered to work without pay for over four hundred hours at a hospital for military veterans. This is known as community service. It is a way that judges can">can punish those found guilty of violating a law without sending them to prison.
People who violate the Stolen Valor Act
can
be sent to jail for six months for making claims about receiving lower-level awards. They can be jailed for up to one year for making claims about receiving higher-level awards like the Medal of Honor. However, most people convicted of violating the law are ordered to perform community service and are not jailed.
Xavier Alvarez appealed his conviction to a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The panel ruled two-to-one that the Act is unconstitutional. Two judges said the law violated the First Amendment guarantee of free speech. The Chief Judge of the Court said that if the Constitution leaves unprotected all lies, then we would all be considered criminals. Chief Judge Alex Kosinski said we lie for many reasons, and such lying should generally not be punished.
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2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25