1st Amendment does not protect phony medals

[ABN5-0]

David Perelman served in Vietnam for all of three months back in 1971, and returned to the U.S. without a scratch.

When he accidentally shot himself 20 years later though, he tried to turn the mishap into an act of valor and claimed the wound was actually a shrapnel injury from the war. The Air Force awarded him a Purple Heart and several other medals in 1994, and with it, Perelman got more than $180,000 in disability benefits, and sported his medal proudly around veterans conventions.

Once the government caught wind of the fraud, Perelman was charged under the Stolen Valor Act. He was found guilty in California and was sentenced to a year in prison. Although Perelman acknowledged that the law correctly applied to him, he appealed his conviction, arguing the Stolen Valor Act as a whole is too broad, and sweeps constitutionally-protected speech into its net.

http://www.citmedialaw.org/blog/2011...sport-phony-me

[Jeff82]

Hooah!! One for the good guys!

[JP43]

He should have been a better shot!!!!!!!!!

[IEDmagnet]

OFS

[Lower_Jumper]

Too bad it wasn't a self inflicted head wound.

[SOWT]

He lost because he used his free speech to collect money from the Government; they will be a few more like this in the next year.