House of Representatives passes revised Stolen Valor Act

Pretenders who falsely claim to have earned the Medal of Honor or other military decorations while attempting to commit additional fraudulent acts would be subject to criminal prosecution under a revised version of the Stolen Valor Act.
The law would replace a previous version of the law, which the Supreme Court struck down in June of last year in a case involving a Pomona man who lied about earning the Medal of Honor. Although Justice Anthony Kennedy asserted that few would consider such deception to be "anything but contemptible," the court nonetheless determined by a 6-3 majority the First Amendment protects Americans' right to tell contemptible lies.
The revised version of the Stolen Valor Act has been written to address the Court's concerns by specifying that anyone pretending to have earned military honors must be attempting to weave that lie into a larger attempt to trick someone out of money or other benefits in order to be prosecuted.
"It's not going after barroom heroes ... it's going after people who lie to the public to gain something," Iraq veteran Chris Fisher said.
Fisher served in the Army and is now a Montclair police officer. He said he was glad to learn the bill passed the House and that it's disgraceful for someone to pretend to have made the same sacrifices as real military personnel in order to win someone's trust.
"Probably, it's more sad than anything else. When someone does that, it speaks volumes about the content of their character," he said.
The bill passed the oft-divided House by a 390 to 3 vote on Monday. A companion bill has been referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee. If the Stolen Valor Act becomes law, those who violate it could be fined or spend up to one year in prison.
Rep. Paul Cook, R-Apple Valley, is one of the bill's cosponsors. Cook said Tuesday the bill has been tailored to address the most egregious cases of fraud, and expects the revised Stolen Valor Act to withstand any challenges similar to that which led to last year's Supreme Court decision.
"The veterans were upset by that, because when people do that, it's something they didn't earn, or something they didn't merit," Cook said.
California has a similar law on the books. Gov. Jerry Brown signed the state's Stolen Valor Act in 2011. Cook, who then was a member of the Assembly, authored the law.
The state's version of the Stolen Valor Act contains language requiring anyone pretending to have earned military honors to have the intent to commit fraud in order to be charged under the law. California law also requires elected officials convicted of violating the Stolen Valor Act to forfeit their office.
Xavier Alvarez, the former water district official at the center of the case leading to last year's Supreme Court decision, was fined and sentenced to probation in 2008 for violating the earlier version of the Stolen Valor Act.
The Supreme Court's decision overturned that conviction. Alvarez, however, was in 2009 sentenced to state prison in a separate matter for defrauding the Three Valleys Municipal Water District, an eastern Los Angeles County agency where he had a seat on the board of directors.
Alvarez was also required to resign his seat on the water district's board as a result of the fraud conviction.