'Stolen Valor' conviction overturned by federal appeals court

[WestVirginiaRebel]

Fox News:

A federal appeals court on Monday tossed out a veteran's conviction for wearing military medals he didn't earn, saying it was a form of free speech protected by the Constitution.

 

A specially convened 11-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the First Amendment allows people to wear unearned military honors.

 

Elven Joe Swisher of Idaho was convicted in 2007 of violating the Stolen Valor Act, which made it a misdemeanor to falsely claim military accomplishments. President George W. Bush signed it into law in 2006, but the U.S. Supreme Court struck it down in 2012 as a violation of free speech protections.

 

Investigators looked into Swisher's military claims after he testified at the 2005 trial of a man charged with soliciting the murder of a federal judge. Swisher wore a Purple Heart on the witness stand.

 

Swisher testified that David Roland Hinkson offered him $10,000 to kill the federal judge presiding over Hinkson's tax-evasion case. Swisher said Hinkson was impressed after Swisher boasted that he killed "many men" during the Korean War.

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Fake soldiers matter?

[Draggingtree]

To Tell the Truth Michael McManus was one of thousands of men and women who embellish their military service. But his story casts a different light on stolen valor.

 

January 31, 2016

By Lauren Caruba2 Comments

Boris Pelcer

 

On December 12, 2009, newly elected Houston mayor Annise Parker stood before a throng of supporters gathered downtown at the George R. Brown Convention Center. Beaming in a shimmery gold pantsuit, Parker, the first openly gay mayor of a major American city, triumphantly told the crowd, “This election has changed the world for the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community—just as it is about transforming the lives of all Houstonians for the better.” Among those listening raptly to Parker’s passionate words was a man in his early forties, dressed in full military regalia. With an angular face, short brown hair, glinting rectangular glasses, and goatee, he looked unassuming—except for his bow tie and crisp blue military uniform heavily adorned with medals, pendants, badges, and pins reflecting the rank of an Army brigadier general.

 

One photographer at the event, a former Marine Corps sergeant, noticed the man’s attire and grew suspicious of how his uniform violated a number of dress-code regulations. A brigadier general would never appear in uniform with facial hair, the photographer thought. Plus, the medals the man wore—a Purple Heart, Silver Star, Bronze Star, Air Medal, Flying Cross, and Distinguished Service Cross, plus five other U.S.-issued emblems mixed in with a Commander of the Order of the British Empire award and a British Special Air Services Crest—seemed conflicting and implausible. http://www.texasmonthly.com/articles/to-tell-the-truth/