Alito; Congress should protect valor
The Wall Street Journal reports that Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito spoke to the 2014 Congressional Medal of Honor Society Awards gala in Knoxville, TN the other day. As one of the minority of the USSC who voted in favor of the Stolen Valor Act of 2004, Alito urged Congress to strengthen Stolen Valor Laws;
“I fervently wish that we find a way, that Congress will find a way to protect the integrity of our country’s system of military honors,” Justice Alito said, making a comparison to laws cracking down on counterfeit luxury goods. “If there is no First Amendment right to buy a fake Rolex, why should there be a First Amendment right to wear a fake Medal of Honor?” he said at the ceremony.
While I agree with the Supreme Court’s decision that the Stolen Valor Act could probably be used to squelch free speech, and while I agree that “the remedy for speech that is false is speech that is true”, I’ve also seen that there are no protections for the people who do the “speech that is true” thing. Several of the people reading this right now are victims of the litigious creature in Oregon who thinks that he can sue us into making him a Chief Petty Officer.
Last year, we were victimized by another creature who hired a hitman for $14,000/month to get this blog removed from the internet so he could be a phony SEAL and a phony Indian. As many of you heard in the recording of my conversation with the State Police, there are no protections for our own free speech. Prosecutors are less willing to prosecute valor thieves than they are willing to prosecute those of us who speak the truth based on lies and fabrications.
The old POW Network was litigated into obscurity, not because anything Mary and Chuck Schantag put on that website was false, but because they were victimized by a litigious phony with a law degree. Phonies can post websites jam-packed with lies about us, but let us tell the absolute truth about them, their own actions, their own false stories and we’re victimized by the police, prosecutors and judges.
What we do only has value to the veteran community, because the cretins who claim valor that they didn’t earn make us look bad, usually because they are guilty of other crimes besides just stealing valor and they use their pretend experiences in the military as an excuse for their bad behavior. But, the fact remains that we’re not able to enforce our community’s standards alone and in this case we need some sort of government intervention, since we can’t get the support of our local law enforcement community.
Added; Some guy at The Burn Pit agrees.
Category: Stolen Valor Act
Less willing? Try not fucking willing at all.
And if this whole episode has taught me anything, it’s that we seriously need to adapt a “loser pays” tort reform, particularly in cases of baseless or frivolous suits, and no hiding assets in someone else’s name.
It may not have stopped our little assclown and his merry band of fucktards, but it’ll sure make them think long and hard before they act like a bunch of butthurt jackwagons.
Been advocating “loser pays both sides’ legal costs” for a couple of decades, NHSparky.
But for some reason, most lawyers don’t like that idea.
Okay, which I guess is understandable to a point.
But when you have a clown like Bernath whose sole raison d’etre for having a law degree is to sue everyone and everything in hopes of hitting the litigation lotto, one has to draw a line somewhere.
Litigation, I understand, and if a suit is brought in good faith, I’m okay with it. To simply clog the legal system with bullshit no rational person would consider actionable can and should be punished, sometimes much more severely than it is currently.
While I totally understand Flagwaver’s frustration, people eventually get what’s coming to them.
It would be nice if prosecutors would actually prosecute this shit, but I’m not hiding my breath. And until they do, when some jackwagon pulls his or her bullshit, I’ll be right here calling them out on it.
The burden of proof is always on the victim, not the accused. However, if someone swears in court that he holds a rank he never achieved, and evidence shows clearly that he never did hold it, he has perjured himself.
Using truth to fight stolen valor has to continue. Phony claims about military service are nothing new; they go far back in history. If the SV claims cost the public in the form of unwarranted VA benefits, fraud, theft and whatever else happens, I see no reason to give up the fight until stolen valor becomes as distasteful to the general public as it is to us.
Jonn, I completely agree with you and always have about this. If it were not for the truth, lies would rule the day. It happens in every walk and endeavor of life. But, to us veterans, stolen valor is not in the league of cheating on college exams. Both are wrong in every way. But stolen valor, dishonors those who gave, “the last full measure of devotion” and cannot speak for themselves. I am proud of you, TAH and everyone who posts here, except the trolls we endure. The way you vet what you write and post here, we are gold. Even the lawyer from the Northwest, can only lie in court as he has in life. He may bring some greater or lesser degree of grief, but it changes nothing about the truth of him or of stolen valor as the larger issue. Again, thank you Jonn.
The only problem is that if you lie in court, it’s a felony!
The Northwest not-a-lawyer/not-a-CPO is far-reaching in his little lawsuit. He’s suing a friend of mine who lives in Australia who did nothing more than ask me why I posted the “wanted picture” on my wall. Another is being sued because he liked a comment I made that the not-a-lawyer believed was a threat against him (you know how threatening and targeted Jesus memes are).
He can post my picture, my wife’s picture, our address and phone number, and say horrible things about us. It’s all covered by the 1st Amendment. However, if I make a comment, whether it is about him or not, I am in the wrong because he took it as a threat.
I’ve checked with attorney’s in my area. I can’t sue him for anything he has said about me because it is free speech, but I’m not covered by that because… Oh, yeah. Because he knows enough about the legal system to file suit against anyone for anything.
The wheels of justice turn slowly, but they grind exceedingly fine.
And so it will be here. Keep the faith.
Ain’t ‘dat da truff!
The fashionable way to break a man is through litigation.
I appreciate what you’re saying. It’s a perspective I hadn’t thought of. It doesn’t seem like average Americans should be at risk for trying to protect the valor of real vets.
I’m fairly impressed by alito’s quote, too.
Jonn,
Thanks for the article and discussing this issue.
I will say this:
The “Pain Train” has left the station, it will be making several stops along the way and stopping at “Stolen Valor Act Reform”.
Nothing more!