July 20, 2010
stolen valor act
A federal judge overturned a law that made it illegal to falsely claim receipt of a Purple Heart or other military honor.
The act makes it unlawful to falsely represent, verbally or in writing “to have been awarded any decoration or medal authorized by Congress for the Armed Forces of the United States, any of the service medals or badges awarded to the members of such forces, the ribbon, button, or rosette of any such badge, decoration, or medal, or any colorable imitation of such item.”
The government, which is mulling an appeal, argued that the law should be upheld.
“By allowing anyone to claim to possess such decorations, could impact the motivation of soldiers to engage in valorous, and extremely dangerous, behavior on the battlefield,” the government wrote.
Judge Blackburn was not buying it.
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I got me 2 purple hearts and a medal of honor. Nam.
A friend of mine used to argue that the military maintains an artificial equivalency between honor and military service, so that it can use the lure of that honor as a form of intangible compensation, which is cheaper than actually paying soldiers more money.
I’m not sure how much I buy into that; most soldiers and veterans I’ve met have been entirely worthy of any honor they’ve received, if not more.
It would, however, explain the government’s reaction: these medals (and the glory and valor that they represent) are being used as a cheap form of currency, which makes lying about receiving one the equivalent of counterfeiting.
I love Judge Blackburn’s argument here. What’s amazing is that anybody could make the “impact on motivation” argument without instantly seeing what was wrong with it.