United Stated vs. Alvarez

During George Bush’s second term as president, a law was passed called the Stolen Valor Act, preventing anyone from claiming that they served in the military or received military honors or awards when they never actually did.  This act was intended to preserve the honor and valor of returning soldiers who had received these honors.  Violating the Stolen Valor Act would be considered a misdemeanor, and punishable for up to 6 months in prison, or if you claimed you received the Medal of Honor, up to a year.  Alvarez claimed when introducing himself at a board meeting that he had been a marine and received the Medal of Honor.  He was arrested, and although he pled guilty to lying about receiving the medal, he believed that it was his first amendment right to lie about it.  The case went all the way to the Supreme Court, where they found that the Stolen Valor Act was unconstitutional in order to maintain a “robust and uninhibited marketplace of ideas.”