9th Circus on “Stolen Valor Act”
No surprises here, but the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals struck down the Stolen Valor Act because it violates your freedom to pull shit out of your ass;
Making lies of that sort would implicate “the JDater who falsely claims he’s Jewish or the dentist who assures you it won’t hurt a bit,” Chief Judge Alex Kozinski wrote. “Phrases such as ‘I’m working late tonight, hunny,’ ‘I got stuck in traffic’ and ‘I didn’t inhale’ could all be made into crimes,” Kozinski wrote in denying a full-court re-hearing of the case.
Yes, the intellect of the judges on the Ninth Crcuit is just that shallow. “I was stuck in traffic” is exactly the same as “I was awarded the Medal of Honor”.
The court was hearing the case of Xavier Alvarez who, during his political campaign in California, claimed that he was awarded the Medal of Honor while serving as a Marine – neither of which was true. So, obviously, there was no intent for personal gain, right?
According to the article, the Justice Department wouldn’t say if they were going to take the case to the Supreme Court. With the reasoning that Justice Kozinski used, I don’t see how they couldn’t.
Category: Phony soldiers
I have a black robe I have just been dying to wear and I guess now with this ruling it is okay for me to head out to the local watering hole and impart all kinds of judicial wisdom upon the patrons. I mean hey no harm in pretending to be a judge to try and score with some para legal interns right? Or how about putting on a badge and flashing some creds to gain entrance into your house.
Wait aren’t there laws against that? Gee the the 9th Circus needs to clearly define what is and isn’t an acceptable Halloween costume?
Do these folks have a single functioning brain cell between them?
What if you said “I was awarded the medal of honor for sending the military to conduct combat operations at the behest of the UN, without there being a clear and present danger to the national security of the United States?”
We’ve been on the receiving end of some of the 9th Circus’ decisions here (mainly logging, mining, etc., lawsuits by the enviro types).
No matter what they’re working on, they always manage to worm that horse from the wrong end…
Wow dude. That’s probably the most poorly constructed legal argument I’ve ever seen. There’s a fair argument to be made that the law ins’t Constitutional but that’s not it. That opinion just says that there’s no difference between little white lies and wearing official awards and decorations and that lying not the purview of the government. Neither of which is even remotly true. Sad.
Kozinski isn’t known for his jurisprudence. He is known for being a very reliable liberal vote. And that’s why he’s on the Court.
It would be an epic slapdown by the supremes of the ninth circus if this one got to them. And a certain win for the Gov as long as their lawyers remember to show up that day in court.
Steve, I would have thought the same thing until that decision came down concerning Westboro Baptist Church. Now I’m not so sure that the Supremes wouldn’t back the 9th Circuit.
Heh. 9th Circuit. No surprises here.
USMC Steve,
I’m with PN on this one. In any given case, so long as the argument is framed around Free Speech, there is always 5 guaranteed votes. Justice Kennedy always votes in favor of free speech, regardless of partisanship.
Free Speech: what can’t it do?